Reflections on Our 7th Anniversary

I remember a conversation I overheard when I was in high school. It was in the dentist's waiting room and the two receptionists, an older woman and a younger woman, were talking. The younger woman mentioned that it was her anniversary and she and her husband were going out to celebrate that night. The older woman asked, "How long have you been married?"

"Four years," answered the younger woman, in awe.

Four years, I thought. Whoa. That's like being with the same boyfriend through all of high school. That's such a long time to be with the same person, how has she managed it?

"Pah!" replied the older woman. "You're still newlyweds!"

This response shocked me. How could she say that? It was possibly the first time the concept of eternal marriage and forever families took on concrete meaning for me.

As I was packing for the move I came across a 2/3-full box of "Kari and Ed" note cards we ordered with our wedding announcements. I don't know how many of those we ordered but it was obviously too many since we did write thank you notes for all of our gifts, and used the note cards for other things for about a year. At this point we are more than "Kari and Ed", and it seems a bit past the stage of acceptable use for wedding stationary. I kept two and put the rest in the kids' art box for coloring and cutting.

Last weekend we got an actual babysitter and went out for our anniversary. Fancy dinner complete with a special dessert compliments of the chef and a tour of the kitchen by the manager. Two hours of uninterrupted conversation about our past, our present, our future. I found out way more about what Ed does at work than I knew before because I could actually focus. We also laughed over our first impressions of each other and how hard our first year of marriage was.

Each year has gotten progressively, if slightly, less hard. More communication, fewer misunderstandings, more selflessness, less stubborness, more compromise, less frustration. It takes time and patience to make a marriage work, it turns out. Imagine that. Two moving targets trying to coordinate lives is an unscientific process. We still wonder if we were meant for each other. But we're good for each other, and committed to becoming even better. After only seven years we're smarter, we're stronger, we're closer. I'd say that's pretty good. Love you, Eddie. Here's to another seven!