Ten

Today is our tenth wedding anniversary.  It seem like ten years can't possibly have passed already; at the same time, it doesn't seem like ten years could possibly be enough time to hold all that we've experienced as a couple.

We had a lot going against us in the beginning...at least in other people's eyes.  For starters, there was that age thing.  On our wedding day, I was 36, but Shane was only 23.  Shane's family, more than my own, didn't think it would work for that reason alone.  That he picked me up in a bar (or was it me who picked him up?) was another factor, because, you know, those kind of relationships never work out.  The fact that ours was a whirlwind romance...he moved in with me four days after we met and we were married eight months later...meant we couldn't possible know each other well enough to get married.

But wed we did, and wed we remain.  And some of those naysayers are even starting to come around to the idea. 

A couple of nights ago, we were making a list of all the things we have now that we didn't have then.  Some things are obvious, like the 40 pounds each of has gained, but some of the other things we came up with aren't as visible, such as the lessons we've learned about money.  Some of the things we have now are precious, like Kat, and some are mundane, like our front-loading washing machine.  Things like eyeglasses, scars, and the aches and ailments we now have had yet to show up in 2000.  We have different vehicles and a different home than we did a decade ago.  We now have cats and a pop-up camper.  We have a better relationship with my daughter than we did ten years ago and we have a son-in-law now.  We have skills and experience we didn't have then.  In ten years, we've grown closer as a couple and more confident as individuals.

In other words, he have a lot now that we didn't have then, and good or bad, I wouldn't trade any of it.

I may be the wife, but I'm not "the romantic one" in this relationship.  So for me to say I love and respect Shane even more now than I did ten years ago...well that's pretty darn mushy.

But it's true.