Lucky 13

13 years ago today, I was decked out in the biggest heaviest ivory brocade wedding gown ever sold off the rack at Jessica McClintock. It was more suited for the October date we'd originally set when we first got engaged, but when reality hit and we realized Hub would be in the midst of his 2nd year of b-school mid-terms then, we moved the date up to August. But by then I'd already fallen in love with the dress, so August heat and convertible top on the wedding car be damned, I was going to wear the dress. It was my day, dangnabit!!

Except it wasn't just my day. It was our day. If he hadn't already won my heart by then, he sealed the deal when he cried when he saw me coming down the aisle. He hadn't seen the dress, hadn't known what to expect. And being the tomboy that I was, never wearing makeup or having my hair worn anyway but in a Pebbles-knot on top of my head, he was totally blown away by the made-up, upswept, pushed-up version of me that entered the church. I can't remember anything from the ceremony except that the Irish priest mispronounced our names and sounded like the Lucky Charms leprechaun. And at one point, my bridesmaids caught me admiring my new rings in the rays of sunlight from the skylight instead of listening to what was going on at the altar.

It totally bites being away from him today, but we had a typical (for us) celebration at lunch yesterday after pond hockey. He and the older boy were both sweaty and stinky, but high on the goals they both scored. TDP DinoBoy ate all my fruit salad per usual. It was a casual, comfortable family lunch, and it was the perfect embodiment of our marriage. As I wrote him in the card I left in his sock drawer (it was the one place I knew he'd find it!!), I don't just love him as much as I did 13 years ago, I love the life we've made together. It's far from perfect, far from easy sometimes, but it's ours, and I wouldn't have it any other way.