Five years...............

I'm not good at putting my feelings into words. But, since today marks the fifth wedding anniversary for Jim and I, I feel the desire to try to capture a few.

Our wedding date, March 4th, wasn't just picked out of the sky, or a date that we both were available to "seal the deal", but it was a very special date to me. It was the only date I felt would do for our special wedding.
Flashback to 2003...........
I began reading the book "I Love You, Ronnie; The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan." I couldn't get enough of this book! This man knew how to reach a woman's heart through his letters to her. Also, their love story was so intense, so meant to be. So much of it reminded me of Jim and I. So, when he asked me to marry him and I said yes....there was no doubt when the date would be; Our wedding day would be on Ronald and Nancy's wedding anniversary! (No, at the time I didn't know the date. So, I didn't know if I would be planning a wedding in two days or nine months from then!) Thankfully, after finding out their wedding anniversary, I had about six months to plan things.

But, this love story isn't about Ronnie and Nancy, it's about Jim and me. It has been an amazing five years! If I had to choose just one word to describe it from my prospective, it would be ADVENTURE. These past five years have been an adventure! From southeast Oklahoma to Mobile to Southeast Texas and back "home" again, each mile has been an adventure.

Like Ronnie, Jim has always been great at writing me little letters/notes. During my struggles through nursing school, he was my biggest and greatest supporter. After pulling an "almost" all night-er studying for a big test, I would get up the next morning to find that Jim had left me a little note in the kitchen. It wouldn't be a long letter, just a simple note that might say,

"I know that you will do great on your test, because Eli and I love you".

or even on an ordinary day, he would leave a note just saying

I hope you have a great day! I love you, Jim."

But, there have also been times that I would find a two or three page letter waiting on me that went into great detail of how much I meant to him. And of course, I've kept them all!

I want to borrow some lines from one of Ronnie's letters to Nancy:

"I more than love you, I'm not whole without you. You are life itself to me. When you are gone I'm waiting for you to return so I can start living again."

Happy Anniversary!