Ten Years...

A few preliminary words of warning.  This post is long, and contains very little about Norah and Eli (although neither of them would be here without the event that I am about to recall, if that counts for anything).  In addition, this  post might will get a little mushy, so if you're not into that kind of thing, just keep walking....I wont hold it against you.  Honest.

Ten years ago today I married my best friend.  Ten years ago.  That's one third of my lifetime.  When I put it in those terms, it sounds like a significant span of time, but it really doesn't FEEL like very long ago.

Still, if I'm being completely honest, the first thought that entered my mind as I pulled out these "old" photos was, "Oh!  Look at how YOUNG we were!"  In sharing these pictures with Norah, she asked me who everyone was, and upon my naming each person (myself and Jason included), she made a point to reply, "when he/she/you were MUCH younger."  Haha...yeah, I guess so. 

Jason and I were young.  We got engaged on his 19th birthday (which is a whole, other, sweet story), and married 14 (excruciatingly long) months later, when we were both 20.  Neither one of us thought we were too young at the time.  And neither one of us think we were too young in retrospect.  (I treasure that he is the only boy I've ever kissed)

I knew that I would love Jason Robinson for the rest of my life, and I am so thankful that we have been able to experience "growing up" together on our journey to "growing old" together.

Looking at these photos always makes me tear up.  I can remember the roller coaster of emotions I felt that day, as easily as I can read them on my own face.  June 10th of 2000 couldn't come fast enough for either of us...and when it finally arrived, it flew by in an instant.

I bawled my eyes out down the aisle...both ways.  We married in the little church building where we grew up (and first met in the cradle roll as babies), Central Church of Christ, in Bryan.

We paid for the majority of the wedding, ourselves--not because anyone asked us to, but because we wanted to.  (Thankfully, Central Church graciously let us use the building for free--an act that still touches my heart today, as Jason and I had been attending A&M Church of Christ together for several years at the time, and the church at Central still treated us like close family, showering us with so much love and encouragement). As a result, it was a simple wedding, and for the most part, I am glad it was.  I never once felt like we got caught up in the "wedding" part of getting married.  We both knew that the day was about us starting our life together, and we were thankful to be able to share that beginning with so many of our loved ones.

Much of the  wedding and reception are all but a blur in my memory, as the day went by so fast.  Some things that I DO remember from June 10, 2000:


On the day of our wedding, Jason and I didn't see one another until those big, double doors opened and I started down the aisle...but we DID, however, write each other pre-ceremony notes (which were exchanged through our attendants while we were getting ready).  I still have both of our notes, preserved in our 20-year old handwriting, and they will always be precious to me.

I remember the short time I spent with my dad in the foyer before he walked me down the aisle.  I was amazed at his composure and that he didn't cry at all (something I had BEGGED him not to do in the days leading up to the wedding because I knew that if he cried, I would be a goner).  He smiled and took my arm, and let me know he was  proud of me, and how happy he was that I was marrying Jason.  (But as I mentioned, in spite of his holding it together, I cried my eyes out until Jason took my hands, and then I was completely at peace)

 I distinctly remember the way I felt looking into Jason's eyes as we took our vows.   I remember the love that he looked back at me with...and the pride I felt that he was looking at me with those loving eyes and that huge, beguiling grin, in the presence of all our friends and family.  To this day, that is one of the most precious memories from my lifetime.

I remember leaving the reception and driving to our first apartment, just a few minutes away, to change clothes (in separate rooms) before leaving for our honeymoon.  It was your typical first apartment...in the ghetto.  But it was our HOME, and we were thrilled to live there.  When we arrived at the door, Jason surprised me by scooping me up and carrying me across the threshold.  (When we moved from those apartments three years later, several of the neighbors told us that they had witnessed this spontaneous act of chivalry and were moved by it).

I remember driving to Houston to stay at the hotel airport that night, before our honeymoon departure the next day.  And Jason missing the toll exit, and having to pay the toll twice...but never losing his cool or being frustrated.  I think we were both so happy to be married that we could have driven around in circles for half the night and it wouldn't have bothered us.

I remember us both being famished when we finally made it to our room at the hotel.  (We later confessed that neither of us had eaten anything, all day,  besides the two bites of cake we fed each other at the reception!) And ordering room service for the first time in my life.  Being the glamorous, sophisticated twenty year-olds that we were, we ordered cheeseburgers.  And they were delicious.

Fast forward ten years...and I am awakened by the same, sweet man, with a tray of breakfast in-hand.  (Now, before you start to judge me for being a bad wife and not making my working man breakfast in bed on the morning of our anniversary, I should clarify that one of the things I have learned over the course of our 10 years of marriage is that, although my husband has a deep appreciation for bacon, he would much rather sleep than have breakfast in bed...and I have learned to respect that)  So, the fact that he set his alarm for a HOUR earlier than he gets up on a normal work day, so that he could make ME (who stays home) a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, milk, and juice before HE headed off to work, is a sacrificial act of love that I will always treasure.

Jason's mom and Grandmother picked up the kids for the evening, giving us the opportunity to have a date night together.  True to our sophisticated 20-year old tastes, we opted for  glamorous Wings-N-More, because it just sounded good.  Then, later, we headed over to Cafe Eccel, where we split a strawberry tart and reminisced about "10 years ago".

One of my favorite conversations of the night was about music.  Jason and I are both avid music lovers, so I posed to him the question, "If we were to make a soundtrack of our time together, what songs would come to mind?"  It was fun to recall different memories we had tied to different songs/eras, but the one that made me smile most was the chorus of a Travis Tritt song from our early dating years..

"Let's hold hands on the porch swing, under the moon
While the wind through the willows plays us a tune
We can lie on a blanket, out back in the yard
And wish for our future on a faraway star
You'll feel the passion as time after time
I press your sweet lips to mine
Then we'll dance to the radio, right up 'til dawn
'Til you drift off to dream in my arms"

So many of our dates were spent out in the country (where Jason's mom lived), on a porch swing under the moon, gazing at stars and dreaming about the "forever" we wanted to spend together.  Every time I hear that song, it takes me back to those days, and the sweet memories I have of them.

And now here, 10 years into "forever" with Jason Robinson, I can only say how blessed I have been by our time together and by the man that he is.  He's been true to his word to "love, honor and cherish" through ten years of "better or worse", and  I can't imagine sharing my life with another man, or trusting anyone else with my heart. He is a Godly husband, amazing father, and he will always be my best friend.