Tom and I celebrated eight years of marriage on Tuesday. This is one of the first years since we had kids that we actually went out on our anniversary. I have either been pregnant, just had a baby, or we are too tired to go out. We are finally entering a season of life when the kids are old enough for us to celebrate our anniversary properly.
We decided to go to Mickey and Mooch for dinner. This is the restaurant that Tom and I frequented when we were dating. They serve a very generous portion of wine and an even bigger piece of chocolate cake for dessert. Those are the two main reasons that we went there so much when dating. That, and it was right down the street from where I was living with my parents. My dad reaped the benefits of leftover cake after our dates.
As for our eight years of marriage, my dad said it best the other day when he chuckled and said, “Did you think you would ever make it to eight years?”
My response was, “no”. I laughed.
Before I got married my parents told me, “You will have rough years in marriage. Not just rough days.” I wondered why anyone would sign up for that?! But I signed up anyways. We were married in October 2005. I have to be honest and say that 2006, 2010 and 2012 were rough years. Some were due to my issues and some were due to Tom’s. I think it is harder when you get married later in life, more baggage and bad habits.
There are many things that have contributed to the success of our marriage: family support, counseling, kids, and a strong commitment to God through our vows. In our vows we said that we would be married in “sickness and health, for richer or poorer…” When we said those vows we made divorce a non-issue. It wouldn’t happen. This has made us work through our issues and we have come out better on the other side. I think we are truly happier today than we ever have been. This is not to say that our marriage has been terrible or that we haven’t had fun together, it is just to say that we are both human, have baggage, and marriage takes work. We have had three beautiful children and they have made it worth every second! God continues to bless our marriage and our family.
I am sure that Tom and I will have many, many more anniversaries together. We joke that we might even be able to reach 50-60 years of marriage if God blesses us both with very long lives, which we hope we have (we were 32 and 42 when we married).
We had a fabulous anniversary dinner: drinks, a fabulous meal that I didn’t have to cook, chocolate cake, and a very enjoyable time with my husband that I know loves me very much. It was a night to remember.