Ten years ago today, my favorite person asked me to join my life to his forever. He got down on one knee and half read, half recited from memory the words he’d labored over. I wouldn’t remember what they were if he hadn’t written them down. My only thought was, "Is this really happening to me?". After years of rejoicing with my friends, I found it hard to believe that it was finally my turn to live out my own real-life fairy tale. I did come out of my reverie to hear loud and clear Steve’s last sentence: "Will you marry me?".
We got engaged on the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year but one of the brightest of my life. Three months later, I pledged Steve to "grow old along with me." I feel like we’ve already accomplished that one and, hopefully, we’ll have many more decades to continue to grow even older together. I have been blessed with a man who is steady as a rock, always dependable and present, tender-hearted toward people and the Lord he serves. I love his wonderful deep laugh, the daily morning wake-up kiss followed by a Steve-created latte, even his sometimes-annoying clockwork-predictable routines. Yes, I am blessed . . . maybe even a little spoiled.