Fourteen Years

September 18th is my wedding anniversary. Mikel and I have been married 14 years. At times it feels like the years have flown by, other times it feels like they have crawled. I've often wondered about that - how time seems to flux and bend and race and sometimes even stop. But since I am not a physicist, I will leave such musings for another day, when my brain is leaning a little more to the left.

To say that marriage is a challenge is a gross understatement. Sometimes it seems that we will never be in sync. One is feeling ambitious while the other wants to slow down. One wants to plan a future while the other is perfectly content with the here and now. One wants to take on the world while the other prefers to avoid it all costs. One wants to face adversity head on while the other wants to shut down. Let's not even go into the differences between men and women. There have been volumes written about those, and John Gray is a wealthy man because of them.

But every now and again things are perfectly in sync. You agree on a favorite restaurant. You stand together against an enemy called "children" and hold the family together. You set a goal together. You reach it. You laugh together after days of crying. It is those moments for which I live. They laugh in the face of the others, and I laugh with them.

Good night, reader. And thank you, Mikel, for two fabulous children and 14 fascinating years.