Our ten years have been a whirlwind. To be honest, it’s been the best time of my life. We’ve laughed and cried, accomplished big dreams and small victories. We’ve had major setbacks, indescribable losses, and unimaginable gains.
Before our first anniversary, my mom passed away. A complete life changer for many reasons, her loss would be the source of so much pain that we both never experienced before.
While dealing with her unexpected loss, we also started our fertility journey. I’m not sure where, or if that really ever ends, but it was another challenge we faced head-on. It was ugly. Fertility seemed to infiltrate a good 3-5 years of our life. There were way more sad days than happy, way more difficult days full of questions than there were answers.
Throughout those beginning years, I found a lot of comfort and sanity snuggling up to our rescue pup, Tchoupitoulas. She’s been a source of love and motivation more than she’ll ever know.
There were years where we struggled with job loss, building new careers from the ground up, self contracting the construction of our dream home, adopting another dog, and completing our family with the addition of our son … basically everything “they say” you won’t survive in your marriage, we did that!
So why the vow renewal?
I have no doubt how my husband feels about me and where we are in our marriage. What I do know is that ten years ago, we made promises to each other that we had no clue what those would entail.
For better or for worse? There have been so many ways we’ve grown better together, but we’ve had some unflattering moments, too.
In sickness and health? Thankfully, we’ve both had relatively healthy lives. The biggest toll was our fertility journey. Years of medicines, injections, tests, and procedures. The after-effects are awful, to say the least. The limitations, the hormones, the emotions. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
For richer or for poorer? In 2016, I lost my job, which was a good portion of our monthly income. We had just adopted our son and set him up on my insurance. This was a big reality check, not only in how quickly your comfort level can change but also how thankful I am to have a partner that is also a provider.
To love and to cherish, till death do us part.
