Happy Valentine's Day!
Allow me to blush just a bit here and share that Ashley and I are celebrating our 19th Valentine's Day together! I'd like to share our story with you today. So much of our early time together now seems to have been a foreshadowing to the great life that lay ahead of us.
We had the same best friend in college. That friend was getting very tired of hearing the same heartbreak woes from the two of us. Our previous boy/girlfriend issues had left us bitter and grumpy. He decided to get us together so that we would stop complaining to him and work through our grief together. Wonderful idea, btw. Changed my life, and for that I am very thankful.
We spent many a month together, getting to know each other, being the safe date, becoming best friends. We took trips on the Parkway and had many a picnic. Hiking and exploring local trails became a past time. I honestly lied to her about being the outdoor type - sorry Evan Dando. Kids, remember lying leads to trouble. I got the outfit, got the boots and prepared for a three mile hike to the Cascades that I wish I could say allowed me the chance to show off my masculine, gruff side. Turns out that I don't have one.
Long story short, I ended up getting spooked by a snake who was also out enjoying the lovely day! Scared me so badly, I ended up crawling onto Ashley's back and apparently I screamed all girl-like all the way back down the mountain.
Days to weeks to months to years. Ashley taught me how to drive a stick shift car and how to catch a football. On May 9th, 1993, she kissed me for the first time and blew this old trout out of the water!
On April 16, 1995, Easter Sunday at the sunrise service at Natural Bridge, I asked Ashley to marry me. We walked off, away from her family, past the bridge, up the embankment and past the first row of trees. We goofed around the subject, both of us were so nervous that we needed to excuse ourselves separately to find a wide tree. “Pardon me. I’ve got to pee.” After this, I presented her with her grandmother’s wedding ring, in a box made out of multi-colored construction paper. It was filled to the brim with construction paper confetti, the ring, and a dogwood flower - which symbolized a very important moment in my life.
I had collected the flower one day during a walk at a church retreat in middle school. I had been praying about my awkwardness and my difficulty relating to people. During the walk, I ended up sitting underneath a lovely blooming dogwood tree. There and then, I remember praying for the girl that God had chosen to be my wife. My prayer was simple. "Help me not blow it, God. Turn me into the man that I will need to become, the father that I long to be and the husband that I know I can be." I did not know her at the time, but it turns out that God was working things out just right for us.
June 8th, 1996, I walked up the grass aisle, arm in arm, with Ashley, the love of my life, my soon to be wife and my best friend. Our many friends and family had come out together to celebrate our vows. Rain had fallen for most of the day, but the clouds broke with enough time for us to complete the outdoor ceremony. Patsy Cline was singing “Today, Tomorrow, and Forever.” Everyone was smiling. I was a blubbery mess. But I knew then, and I know now, that I am - without a doubt - the luckiest man in the world.
We danced that night, on the patio, to the music of the Hollins College Jazz band, rain pouring down upon our guests. The longer the night went on, the more beautiful the flowers upon her handmade wildflower headdress became. It was made by her hands, as a matter of fact.
Thank you for letting me share my life with you, Ashley. You make the sunshine seem brighter. In a blink of an eye, just like those flowers, our children are growing taller and ever more beautiful each day.
and p.s.
I’m still falling for you.
Link of the day...
http://kidsadventuring.org/blog/?p=4204 - a lovely Valentine's Day story
Quote of the day...
"A very small degree of hope is sufficient to cause the birth of love." "There is no remedy for love but to love more."-Henry David Thoreau
Bible verse of the day...
"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:31,32
This is simply one of the most amazing things I have ever read. Thank you!
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