Saturday, June 13, 2009

Our Anniversary




The calendar has reached June 13th, which means Lisa and I are celebrating the seventeenth anniversary of our wedding day.

Much has changed in our lives over the years.

We have two children, and if you're a parent, then you know that changes your life on a daily basis.

We live in a different state. We were both born and raised in California, but have taken up residence in Oregon for about eight years now.

We have each discovered hairs that have changed color from their original shade. (me, much more so than her!)

We have had our share of disagreements over the years. Some of them rather heated, but none of them that lasted any length of time.

We have regrettably had to say goodbye to each of our fathers as well as other family members and even a couple of friends along the way.

One of the things that has not changed over the years, is that we are friends. Before we ever went out on a date we had developed a friendship, and that has continued throughout our marriage.

We have learned the true meaning of our wedding vows: For richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.

We've never been monetarily wealthy, nor have we been destitute, but we have seen glimpses of each and remained true to each other in both.

We've had our "for better" times and other times that would qualify for "worse". With a spirit of love and understanding, we made it through each of them with a renewed sense of respect and love for each other.

We've experienced periods of good health and our share of sicknesses along the way. It's true that you gain a real understanding of another person when they are under the weather. Through various illnesses that life has thrown at us, we've learned to care for one another deeply.

The last part of our vows, till death do us part, fortunately has not come, but I do believe I've heard on more than one occasion, "Over my dead body!"

We've experience many things in 17 years of marriage and no doubt will have many more things to look back at in the years to come. More happiness, more memories, more times of worry, more times of great joy, more. . . life. Each of these things we will be able to enjoy or endure, as the case may be, because we will have each other.


So to my wife, my lover, my best friend, my companion, my soul mate. . . I love you. I love you now as I have loved you all of the years we've been together.

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hau`oli Piha Makahiki! to you and your wife. What a wonderful tribute and excellent post :) Aloha

Travis Cody said...

Happy Anniversary to you both! That was a wonderful tribute to your life together.

Desert Songbird said...

Most blessed anniversary to you and Lisa! You're celebrating a year behind us, but I would say that your words are very fitting for just about any marriage that has endured and thrived for any length of time, mine included. Congrats on the "for better" - and "for worse." It makes us stronger, wouldn't you agree?

Jeff B said...

Tom- Thanks for the Hawaiian blessing.

Travis- Our anniversaries are only a couple of day different. Hoping you and Pam have many more to share as we have.

Songbird- It does indeed. It would be great to say every minute of every day has been easy, but that wouldn;t be very realistic. That's not bad, just life. Happy eighteen to you.

quilly said...

Happy Anniversary. You have left tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.

Dana said...

Wow Jeff ... just ... WOW!

Happy Anniversary!

Mel said...

Awwwwww...

:-)

Happy Anniversary to you and Lisa.....many, many continued blessings.

Geeze you're a mooshy one...

RA said...

Hi, I come from Thom's blog to wish you a Happy Anniversary! Wishing you even more joy and blessings in the upcoming years. This is such a lovely post for your wife. Have a great week :)

Ron said...

Ok...teary-eyed.

Beautifully expressed, Jeff!

The love you share is felt.

Happy Anniversary to the both of you. Wishing many more years of the same!

Enjoy your day!!!!!!!!!!!

Jay said...

Happy Anniversary you two!

Gene Bach said...

You're right, some things never change:

We still like her, and not you. And, the kids are OK too. Just not you.

Jeni said...

Now that was a lovely tribute to your wife on your anniversary. Hope it's a great celebration for you both and that you have many, many more.
(Oh -I had a heck of a time finding the link to post a comment here. The shade of blue on the grey background was really difficult for my old eyes to locate. Maybe you can make the color a tad brighter?)

Jeff B said...

Quilly- Thank you for stopping in.

Dana- I'm a lucky guy no?

Mel- I do have my moments.

Rosidah- I'll have to go back by Thom's and thank him for the mention. You words are appreciated.

Ron- At the risk of being a cliche' , she completes me. For that I count myself very fortunate to have found her.

Jay- Thanks my good man.

Gene- Your warm fuzzy sentiments are dooley noted. . . scum bag. Hey, why did you kill your blog?

Jeni- Great to see you again. Thanks for the well wishes.

Nessa said...

Happy Anniversary! If you are friends with your spouse, you have it all.

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

Happy anniversary to you both - truly a match made in heaven. A

Akelamalu said...

What a lovely post Jeff. Happy Anniversary to you both m'dear. When you find your soul mate, things just get better and better. We will celebrate our
35th anniversary in December. I hope you two will see yours. :)

Jeff B said...

Nessa- Our bond started developing long before we dated for the first time. I believe this friendship made for a solid foundation on which to build our relationship.

Anne- I would say you are absolutely correct.

Akelamalu- I'm sure we will see our 35th, so long as she hasn't snuffed me out do to one or more of my antics that's sure to happen.

Congratulations on your long marriage. Always nice to see a couple together for so long.

Mimi Lenox said...

Congratulations to you and your lovely bride. May you have many mnore years of happiness together!

Skeeter said...

Happy Anniversary! What a great post.

Best wishes,

Skeeter

Sandee said...

Happy Anniversary to the both of you. What a great tribute to your wife as well. Excellent. :)

Roan said...

Since Hubby and I haven't been married 2 years yet, if we make it to 17 years, we'll probably be celebrating in the home! ;) Congratulations you lucky dog. Of course, after reading this, I think she might be a bit on the lucky side, too.

Jeff B said...

Mimi- Thank you. We are looking forward to many more.

Skeeter- Why thank you. Appreciate you coming by.

Sandee- She's a great woman. I'm quite lucky.

BJ- Ha. In fifteen years I'll have to send you a cane or some depends as an anniversary present.

Bwahahahaha

kelvin s.m. said...

Hello! Happy Anniversary to both of you...!:)

jay said...

That was a lovely post! Happy anniversary to you both and many more of them!

"One of the things that has not changed over the years, is that we are friends. Before we ever went out on a date we had developed a friendship, and that has continued throughout our marriage."

That's us as well. I think it is part of the secret of a long and happy marriage. :)

Dr.John said...

Happy Anniversary.
Now where is your picture story or the linksy?
I have just come from your other blog and there is nothing.
I know your celebrating but......

bettygram said...

Happy Anniversary! Very nice post.

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

Great post Sir... and a belated congrats to you and your bride

nitebyrd said...

That's really lovely, Jeff. Hope you both had a great anniversary!

buffalodick said...

Nicely said! Hope you both enjoyed the day!

Jeff B said...

Kelvin- Thank you and welcome to the blog.

Jay- It really does make for a good start to any marriage.

Dr John- It's been taken care of.

Bettygram- Thank you.

Bond- I'll be sure to pass that on to Lisa. Thanks

Nitebyrd- It was a nice evening, thank you.

Buffalo- We did, thanks.

Anndi said...

It does my heart a measure of good to see such loving words about your lady love, bro...

It's wonderful that you've managed to look the other way when she brings even more bananas in the house. *wink*

SMOOCH

Sandi McBride said...

17 years! Wonderful and congratulations to you and Lisa...I wish you 50+ more!
Sandi and Mac...41 years and counting

j said...

A Belated Happy Anniversary to you and Lisa. That last paragraph was beautiful. You two are blessed!

Kelly H-Y said...

Beautiful! And, so kind of you to host your son's bday on the same day as your anniversary ... such good parents!

Jeff B said...

Anndi- Yep, love her even with the abundance of brown bananas!!!

Sandi- Thank you. If I make to to fifty more, I'll be lucky to remember what day of the week it is, let alone what day our anniversary falls on.

Jennifer- We are blessed indeed, although I'm pretty sure I got the better deal.

Kelly- I had good role models to follow. Matt and the other boys had a blast.

katherine. said...

You both are truly blessed! But you really married up...didn't you? smile. (j/k psycho mom)

I am sure you enjoyed celebrating your anniversary...and I too wish you many more.

and ya know...your boys have a great example for their lives....

CrystalChick said...

Really beautiful!
Happy anniversary and best wishes for many, many more wonderful years together.

San said...

Beautiful, Jeff. Sorry I'm getting to this late. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to you and lovely Lisa.

TJ said...

I hope you had a wonderful Anniversary! June was a popular month, as we celebrated 9 years on the 10th.

Thank you so much for your prayers for me and my boys during our recent scare and surgery. They are doing well, and we have another ultrasound tomorrow. I cannot wait to tell them about all the people that have prayed for them.