9 years

Ben and I were sitting next to each other watching our oldest twirling around the floor in her dance class. It was the last class before the performance and parents are invited to watch. I really love my daughters' teachers; they love the kids, they love dance, they respect the body. My oldest daughter's teacher is the mother-in-law of one of my former school mates.

I leaned over to Ben and was going to say "That's Noelle's mother-in-law" as if he knew who Noelle was. But he doesn't. We didn't go to high school together. Which is a good thing. We joke that if my parent's had known each other in high school they would have never married. I think the same could be said about Ben and me. I was still growing into myself in high school and wasn't quite me yet. Oh, there were flickers of me around the edges, but I needed a few more life experiences and so on.

The point of this post is that while we didn't know each other until college, I felt like he would know that trivial information from my past. I went to school with Noelle. Here is her mother-in-law. He doesn't know that. But I'm glad I feel like he might. We've been married 9 years today. Nine years isn't forever yet, but I can see that it's long enough to make the part of my past I had without him seem a little odd for him not being there at least hovering in the wings.

And so here's to many more years, decidedly together. Happy Anniversary, Ben. I love you.

Ben's recreation of a Doonsbury comic strip which he did shortly after we were married. I have a fondness for Doonsbury, as well as a fondness for Ben: this helps explain why. Who wouldn't fall for something like that?