Anniversary, Second Edition

Two years ago at this time I was barely an hour into what has been without question the best two years of my life. I don't remember being overly-excited or anxious on that day. I'm not a very excitable person to begin with. More than that, getting married was just the natural next step. It was the public declaration to all 30 people in attendance of what we already had.

We met April 9th. It wasn't exactly love at first sight for us. I wouldn't have had it that way, and somehow, I don't think she would either. Love at first sight isn't impossible, but it would have been met with too much suspicion. For us, it's more accurate to say that it was intrigue at second sight. It took another 3 months or so for love to really start to develop. It took 5 months for us to admit that face-to-face.

On November 12th I put a ring on her finger on the steps of the capitol building overlooking downtown St. Paul, MN. She had always commented on how pretty the capitol was. It was a quiet Sunday afternoon with no one else around. As we sat on the top step of the capitol, I pulled out her belated birthday present, a matryoshka doll I got from my Ukrainian great uncle just for this occasion. As she slowly opened it, each layer had an artifact, a piece of the 7-month progression of our relationship to that point. The first few layers contained rather trivial pieces: the first Facebook messages, blog comments, and any other written evidence I had of our earliest conversations with one another. It's easy to forget how formative those simple talks and notes are. The last few layers held more significant meaning: a text message expressing happiness with seeing each other that day, an email, a sweet note. The innermost layer contained a piece of paper on which I'd written that I loved her. Below that piece of paper lay a ring.

I'll never forget that moment. We both knew the answer. We both knew it was coming at some point. But it's still a monumental moment.

And that brings us to February 24th at Cove Point Lodge. To the casual observer - and possibly even the not-so-casual observers - it probably didn't make much sense. 10 1/2 months was too fast. Cove Point Lodge was 3-4 hours away from both families (and wasn't a church). We only invited our immediate family and bridal party. Digital cameras served as substitutes for the photographer we decided not to add to the credit card. Our reception was in Duluth, an hour from the lodge. We had another 2 hours to drive from there to Minneapolis to catch our flight to Hawaii the next day. And we had the worst blizzard of the year that night - something my mother-in-law prophesied would happen.

And we loved it.

It was simple, beautiful, and for all of its faults, we loved it.

Yes, I would probably splurge on a photographer if I were to do it again. It would likely be more organized.

But I wouldn't trade the intimacy of that day for anything. The evening spent at Black Woods in Duluth with our closest family and friends was one of the most memorable moments of my life.

The last 2 years have not been perfect. But they couldn't have been much closer to it.

Jamie Lynn, I love you. Thank you for loving me.