25!

“Well, hon, we made it.”

“Yep! We did it!”

This was our conversation yesterday morning concerning our anniversary. We made it to 25 years! It seems like a huge milestone, and one we’re proud of. There were those who didn’t think we’d make it since we got married so young. But, here we are. And we still love each other, probably more now than 25 years ago.

We obviously aren’t very good at celebrating though. We laid mulch around our garden to push back weeds, we tended to the kids. Andrew ended up with a massive headache from the sun and took a nap while I went swimming with the kids. Then a storm with hail blew through! Thankfully our garden was spared!

I’d say the day ended better than it began though. We got to bless some dear friends by bringing two of their kids to the hospital to visit their sister, went to dinner at a really yummy restaurant and came home to crash in bed. Don’t worry, we plan on having a big party in the fall when the garden is finished!

As I thought about our day, I was partly saddened that we hadn’t done a better job planning something fun and exciting. But I was reminded how precious and amazing our relationship is and that one day of celebrating is not as important as daily celebrations.

Here’s a couple stories that give a peek into that.

About two months ago, I was scheduled to get a haircut with my daughter, Olivia. A few days before the haircuts, Olivia said, “I can’t wait to get my hair chopped off!”

I replied, “Me too!”

Andrew groaned.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, I like you hair long,” he smiled. We’ve had this conversation for the last 25 years.

“I’ll make you a deal. You get rid of half your t-shirts and I’ll grow my hair out.” We’ve also had this conversation for the last 25 years. He has more t-shirts in his drawers than anyone I know! I also knew this was a sure fire way to not have to grow my hair out.

The night before my haircut Andrew came home from work and went upstairs to change, as he always does. But then I noticed he was gone an awfully long time. Probably 20 minutes went by before he came down the stairs. By now, you’ve guessed it. He had a huge mound of shirts he was bringing down. I mean huge!

I just started laughing and laughing! The kids and Steph were like, what? What in the world is so funny?!

Andrew was grinning from ear to ear and I couldn’t stop laughing.

“That’s all it took?!” I asked between chuckles.

“That’s all it took?! He replied. We still laugh at it and, well, my hair is getting longer and longer. HAHAHA!

Two nights ago, Andrew came onto the porch and said he had a gift for me for our anniversary. The kids had all followed him and he had his goofy grin on his face. I knew something was up.

He said, “I know we said we wanted to go to Hawaii for our anniversary, but since we can’t this year, I got you this.”

I opened the bag and there was the Hawaii expansion of Catan!

I busted out laughing! We had planned to go to Hawaii for our 15 year anniversary but then we had Madelyn and Evelyn. So we said, ok, for our 20th. Then we had David. Ok, but for real this time – for our 25th. Then this year we had Eloise.

“Thank you, but this is a really lame exchange for a trip to Hawaii,” I laughed.

“But it’s in second place?” Andrew smirked.

“A distant second,” I replied. We laughed and laughed.

Something I’m slowly learning in this 25th year with the great man is to laugh. I have always been the serious parent and the serious partner. He loves to goof around and tell horrible jokes. And usually I roll my eyes and maybe chuckle a bit but really I suppress my laugh. I guess I think I better stay serious so we get things done or order remains or something. I don’t even know!

But lately I’ve just decided to let it go and laugh with him.

Like Sunday morning when I was sitting at the dining table and called Andrew in from the kitchen.

“So, August 26th is a Saturday,” I started.

“Ok, sounds good,” Andrew replied as he turned and walked back in the kitchen. He started laughing so hard he could hardly breathe. And you know what? It was funny. So I started to laugh too and we had a great belly laugh session together.

I wish I’d learned this sooner in our marriage, but I’ll give it all I’ve got now. I’m going to enjoy these silly moments with this wonderful man, because it’s a really easy way to show him how much I love him and how thankful I am to God for bringing us together and keeping us together all these years.

Aww, look at those kids!