Decade

On December 17, 1999 Dan and I tied the knot. I was 22, and a new college graduate, and Dan was 21, and had just finished his last college final one-day prior to our wedding nuptials. It was a crazy time, and we were excited to embark on our *grand* post-college adventure together.

We left college with the arrogant notion that the world would be waiting for us—we had shiny new college degrees and “Boy, wouldn’t some company be lucky to have us!” Naturally what ensued was quite different—temp jobs, selling cell phones, secretarial work, rental properties, hand-me-down furniture, folding chairs, Hamburger Helper.......

I fondly reflect on our beginnings because in some respects it was an easier time. We hadn’t acquired much, weren’t responsible for much, weren’t too jaded, were relatively trusting of others, and hadn’t dealt with much adversity. Through ten years (plus) we have had some great triumphs and have had some great disappointments; taken some risks; made some good decisions and some bad ones; loved well and loved terribly; shown up and checked out; been lucky and un-lucky; and mostly we’ve just been us—flawed, still learning, making amends, laughing a lot, and attempting to extend undeserved grace.

There’s so much about Dan that I love but mostly I’m so grateful for his friendship. Dan is my best friend and he is the funniest and most fun person that I know; he’s loyal; he’s real; he’s seeking God; and he’s a tremendous father. There’s no one else that I’d rather be “in this” with than Dan. Thank you, Dan—I sincerely love doing life with you. Really, I do. I really, really do.