And Just Like That, It’s Been 10 Years

 Original Post | June 18, 2020

Our lives together started at this very spot, 10 years ago. 
     Well, technically, we became legal on this very spot, 10 years ago.
      About a month ago, Len said, "Let's recreate our first photo."
      Me, "Sure," thinking he would forget about it. 
      Sure enough, he came from work and yanked his suit (that was still in the dry cleaners bag from 2010) out of his closet and looked at me and said, "Get ready.'
      "Oh, you're serious?" I responded. And with that, I reached inside my closet for my white flowing dress, still with its safety-pinned dry cleaning tag from 2010. It had been months since I had worn make-up, so the usual five-minute application was bumped to seven minutes, carefully covering those annoying sunspots and wrinkles that weren't there 10 years ago.. Len would pop his head into the bathroom every now and then, grinning from ear to ear, amazed that his suit still fit him like a glove. All I kept thinking was "Oh God, please let my dress fit."
      It did. So the girl with the now white hair and the boy with the salt-n-pepper hair went to the exact spot on the porch where (now) Superior Court Judge Eric Norris hitched us to a star in front of a few family and friends. 

     And when the vows were said, everyone went inside our home, drank champagne, ate cake and celebrated the creation of a family. It was mostly unicorns and rainbows that day, and for the most part, the rainbows have still remained over our heads. Hailstorms crept in from time-to-time, but we figured that if we kept our focus on God and on each other. we'd be okay.
     Dreams have changed. We're living through a pandemic. Parts have been tweaked and shifted. More geography separates us from those who joined us that morning, but the one constant - our front porch.
     Still, there's white rockers for sitting and reflecting. And every morning and evening when I plop down in my rocker,  I remember that moment on a June morning when the humidity was so thick you could cut it with a knife, that two very lost people found a reason to live.
     And live we would for the next 50 years - IF we are very, very lucky.