Blink of an eye...

Tempus Fugit ~ Time flies

This week we celebrated my son's 20th birthday. He had to work on his birthday & had a sort of confused expression when I brought out a container of Ben & Jerry's * Imagine Whirled Peace* ice cream (yes it has small chocolate peace sign medallions in it!), with two lit birthday cake candles in it.

When he gave me the Huh? look, I explained- one candle for each decade.

Then came the Ahhhh, & the smile.

On Thursday, my Husband (Dubbed Mr. Ramblings), & I celebrate our 21st anniversary. Wow! The time has flown by. Love grows, actually I think it is better described as Love Morphs.

Our relationship has had it's metamorphasis ~ through home birth, crying babies, raising two kids, crazy work schedules, in sickness & in health.

I will never forget that he would bring me a freshly diapered baby to nurse in the middle of the night. As soon as the baby was born, he said hey! you carried that baby for 9 months, it's MY turn. He would pop that baby in a front pack carrier and later a back pack carrier & was thrilled to have that bundle of joy as something he literally carried.
The baby, by the way was hellbent on kicking off ONE of his shoes, thus earning the nickname "one shoe", yes often his Dad would backtrack on the trail or path to find the elusive missing shoe.

We survived the great Chicken pox adventure. First one kid, than the other & then we discovered the Dad had not had the Pox. A baby in diapers w chicken pox is tricky. I was the only one in the house that was not polk-a-dotted with pox. That was a blur, other than I remember going to the pharmacy & asking if they sold Calamine lotion in gallon sized containers as these 4 ounce bottles were not cutting it.

There were years of crazy juggling of school schedules, soccer games, band performances, and graduations.
I don't even like to reminisce over the tough teen years our oldest son went through, but I swear, the roof of this house must have been spinning. Let's just say we are glad we endured, and things have changed dramatically.

In the last few years, I had a run of serious medical issues. A total knee replacement, 2 additional major surgeries, , a few serious kidney stone incidents. My guy was there through it all.
I was there for him when a camping trip hundreds of miles away, resulted in him having a ruptured appendix & many days in a dinky rural hospital, while recovering from the emergency surgery.
Helping each other through the rough times really weaves the fabric of our lives tighter together.

We are on the brink of being empty nesters. the youngest, now in college & working, hardly ever home.
He is a walking think tank with a heart of gold. He is passionate about issues and sensitive. We share sarcasm, deep thoughts, humor & some peace vigils & protests.
He's reachwd that place of wanting to do everything on his own, but could use some guidance. One has to be careful about giving tips & advice.
He got his driver's license in June, and now often rolls away in one of our cars. My baby!
Actually he is a fine young man, who just had a very lucky brush with not being seriously injured in a car/bike accident. He is going for Physical therapy now to get some back care & strengthening.

So our love rides the waves of what life brings. 21 years later, I'm lighting a candle & he is bringing home roses.
A few times, we have unknowingly given each other the same gift, and sometimes we finish each other's sentences- not in an annoying way, just on the same page. We love a good laugh, and try to sharpen our sarcasm skills. We are supporting each other as each of our elderly 80-something parents are going through serious health issues. We carry on together.

We take care to have space & do different activities (he could sit up all night doing star gazing, I'm done in a few hours), I like to do different activities, hand drumming, activist groups that we don't necessarily do together & that's good.

But often we do enjoy doing stuff together. We are lovers, and we are friends.
He has been the love of my life, and I can't picture life without him.

Although it seems like a blink of an eye, 21 years have passed. Our love has grown stronger. I hope we are wiser... we know each other more, and have smoothed out the rough edges. In the end, love is all you need.