Two years ago today, this happened:
Me and The Engineer, Photo by Victoria Souza Photography
I really can’t believe this was two years ago. It feels simultaneously too short and too long. In some ways I feel I’ve been married to this wonderful man for years and in others, I feel we’re still going on our first week as newlyweds.
There are a few things I will never forget about my wedding. The fact that it took place during the Summer of Rain – it poured nearly every day that summer, including the day before and after day after our wedding, but was 70 and sunny for our ceremony. The fact that none of it really hit me until I was sitting in the limo with my dad, the church doors closed and he said, “OK. It’s time.” That was when I started crying. The fact that the whole night, and throughout our entire honeymoon, the Engineer and I just kept looking at each other and saying, “Holy Crap. We’re married!”
A lot can change in two years. To expand on this, let me tell you a little story…
A month before our wedding, I was laid off a job. I went from being a full-time employee at a job I intended to stay at for many years, to being unemployed, in shock, and four weeks away from my wedding day. I knew searching for a new job during those four weeks would be pointless. I chose to focus on the wedding, on me and the Engineer, on friends and family. But something funny happened. During the quiet hours that people were at work and I was between wedding tasks, I ended up at my computer. I started writing again.
I have always been a writer, but during the few years before being laid off that job, the time I spent spilling words grew few and far between. And then suddenly, with that gaping month of free time, I was at it again. And after the wedding (and a new job), I kept writing. I kept writing and writing and I had this grand idea, and I told the Engineer, “I’m going to do it this time. I’m actually going to finish this story.”
I did. And I edited it and then decided it was wasn’t good enough. I threw it out and started over. From scratch. With a new idea, a better idea. All along I kept saying, “I’m going to do it,” and he kept saying, “I know you will.”
And now, a mere two years later, I am in the midst of revisions for my debut novel.
So don’t mind me as I thank the Engineer:
Thank you, sweetie, for your constant patience. Thank you for always believing in me and telling me I can. Thank you for understanding that when I murmur something in a zombie-like trance I am not ignoring you but am rather deep in thought. Thank you for only subtly wrinkling your nose when I choose writing over responsible adult things like eating balanced meals and staying organized and attending to basic levels of personal hygiene such as showering or changing out of my pajamas. Thank you for knowing when to say, “Go for it. Keep writing,” and more importantly, when to say, “Stop. Take a break. Let’s go for a walk.” Thank you a million times over. While writing is a solitary act that I do alone, often holed up in my office, I know, without a doubt, that I could not have gotten here without you.
Blog Readers! Have I driven you crazy yet with my sappiness? I apologize. I guess the moral of the story is this: a lot can happen in a few years. Marriages, book deals, job changes, new mailing addresses, and everything in between. And sometimes, even if it’s sappy, you have to take a moment and thank your lucky stars for the people in your life that support you and love you and accept you in your entirety – we’d all be nowhere without our anchors.
