Monday, July 7, 2014

Lucky Number 7

Summer has always been a special time in our lives.

Our courtship began in the summer and for years we used summers to re-connect and stock up on time together before the cool winds of Autumn blew us back to us back to our respective colleges.

Then, one summer, Kirk asked me a very special question.  To which, of course, I replied "Yes."  That was seven years after our first date.

The following summer we stood up in front of our friends and family and vowed to love each other through all the good stuff and bad stuff (you know the rap).  Little did we know that after so many years of easy courtship we were about to really test those vows.  It seems that each year, near our anniversary something big is happening.


Sometimes the "something big" is amazing, sometimes not so much.  On our first anniversary I was a few days out from surgery and we signed the papers on our first house and moved to what would be our home for five years.  Our second anniversary was the most difficult to date and will likely remain so for a very long time, if not forever.  Our third anniversary I spent rocking and holding a precious 3 week old miracle. 

When we got to our fourth anniversary we finally had the opportunity to "celebrate" although the celebration was small and simple.  A few weeks later I changed career paths.  The celebration I had planned for our fifth anniversary fell by the wayside when I learned I was pregnant with Eilidh just a few days before.  Last year, our sixth anniversary, was spent unpacking boxes after uprooting our little family and sending Kirk off to his first week of a new adventure.

And that brings us to the end of year seven.  The seventh anniversary is sometimes considered a pivotal one in a marriage.  Even though we had years of courtship before getting married we've still done a tremendous amount of "getting to know you" and figuring out how to live this life we have together.  In the midst of all of that, we've moved two times (make that three if you count the one coming up), brought two children into the world and each changed jobs twice (OK, more for me...but who's counting?) It's true this isn't a "growing" year for us, but it is a moving year and a new job year as well.

And, since it is such a "big" anniversary, we are actually planning a celebration! Who knew it would ever happen? And, although I have a feeling we are in for more years of excitement I wouldn't mind a nice, quiet anniversary next year.  Check back in 365 days and I will let you know how it goes!

A little throw back - circa 2000