Fifteen seems like a big number.
Maybe even bigger and more monumental than ten (and 5 years ago, I though “a decade” was quite the milestone).
But this one feels “weightier”, like we’ve actually “accomplished” something.
Derrick and I are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary today.
And to say that the last 15 years have been an adventure would be an understatement.
We’ve grown, we’ve changed, we’ve moved, we’ve had children, we’ve dreamed, we’ve grieved, we’ve been angry, we’ve been confused, we’ve celebrated, we’ve tried new things (and failed).
But no matter what, one thing has remained constant through it all: each other.
No matter what I have going on in my head, heart, and life – whether I’m happy or sad or mad – there’s truly only one person I want to see at the end of the day: and that’s Derrick. I love and respect him now, more than ever. I value his friendship, his insight, and his intuition now, more than ever. I am so grateful for his hard work to provide for our family, his role in our house and as my partner now, more than ever.
(That doesn’t mean we don’t have moments of conflict or disagreement, but even in our worst fights, we’ve been determined to “fight it out” and reach the other side – whether that’s compromise or forgiveness or both.)
So, as we’ve been approaching our 15th wedding anniversary and we’ve been reflecting recently on the last 15 years of our lives, I decided to “re-mix” our wedding video and create an updated highlight film.
I created a “highlight” video right after we got married (and at the time, I was super proud of it – after all, I had zero video-editing skills and I was just so proud that I could put together what I did). But lately, I found myself with the itch to go back through all the footage that was captured (by two very generous friends) and re-create that highlight film – this time with music and voiceovers and a more creative flair.
It was amazing to comb back through all of our wedding footage. There were so many clips of family members and dear friends who were part of our celebration, who have now gone on to heaven – and it was so special to see them, hear their voices, and have their memory live on. Additionally, everyone has aged 15 years since our wedding day. My baby sister isn’t 4 anymore, she’s 19. My nephew isn’t 6 months old – but 15 years old. (We won’t even do the math to figure out how old our parents were and are now.) Derrick and I each now only have one remaining grandparent on this earth with us (when all 8 of them were still alive for our wedding).
Time is a monster, but words cannot express how thankful I am for these memories. And the fact that I’ve been able to adventure through life over the last 15 years with my best friend.
Cheers to the next 15, 25, 50 years and beyond.
PS: If you’d like to re-live some of my past wedding anniversary posts, you can see them here:
Year 14
Year 13
Year 12
Year 11
Year 10
Year 6
Year 5
Year 4
Year 3
