She said 'YES'!...A Reflection On Marriage....

Fall 2011

Sweetie and I recently celebrated our anniversary.  It happened to be our 'golden' anniversary...the one where we commemorated 19 years of married life on the 19th of December.  In light of that, we purchased a small, inexpensive band that I can wear alone when I begin the nursing program and also later in my nursing career.  As we walked out of the jewelry store, I asked Sweetie if he would wait and give it to me on our anniversary.  He agreed.
Our anniversary consisted of taking our whole family to see Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson in concert and then to dinner.  We figured it's our family's birthday as well as our anniversary, so why not celebrate it together?  The kids and I are huge (like GINORMOUS) Jon and Steven (aka The Piano Guys) fans and the opportunity to see them perform was one we just could not pass up.  The concert was amazing and as we were driving to our restaurant, Sweetie took a slight detour to the temple.  The temple grounds were decorated for Christmas and Sweetie wanted us to walk around the temple.  It was quite chilly and I had only brought a light sweater, but I decided to play along....it would make for a great family memory. 
As we reached the front of the temple, Sweetie gathered us all around and told our three beautiful children that exactly nineteen years ago that day, he took me to a temple nearly as old as that one and married me for eternity.  It was then I clued into what he was doing.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the box with the ring.  Our fifteen-year-old daughter, as full of romance as any teenage girl would be, also caught on and got all excited and said, "Get down on one knee!  Get down on one knee!"  Sweetie did and proposed to me again like he did just over nineteen years ago.  Anner was just beaming and jumping up and down.  I said yes.  She yelled over and over, "She said yes!!  She said yes!!"  There were many families there that night that I'm sure thought that this was a single mom who just got engaged.
I've thought alot about that moment. 
How my boys needed to see their dad be romantic and sweet to his wife. 
How my daughter needed to see how a woman should be treated and loved by her husband. 
I've also thought about my daughter's reaction to my answer. 
I wonder if our children were there at our first proposal in August 1992.  If they stood around us, with baited breath, waiting for my answer.  If they jumped up and down and yelled with joy, "She said yes!  She said yes!"
Because my 'yes' meant they would be able to come to this earth...for us to be a family here and not just in the pre-existence.
Did I do the same when my parents got engaged?
I've been blessed with parents who have been amazing examples of how marriage should be.  They are not perfect people, by any means, but they are people who have been willing to put their shoulder to the wheel TOGETHER and work hard TOGETHER to get through tough times.  I've heard them argue, but I've also heard them be sweet and kind and tender to each other.  They still kiss after every prayer over a meal.  They still hold hands when they walk even after nearly 40 years of marriage.  They have what I want and what Sweetie and I strive for.
We're not perfect, either.  Marriage is hard.  Taking two people with two different backgrounds and melding those two is work.  We've definitely had our ups and downs.  The ups are phenomenal, and the downs....well, we just struggle and climb through them the best we can.  But we're committed to each other.  And the fact that we can be husband and wife forever. 
Friends in our lives may come and go, but the two of us will always remain.  Sweetie will eternally be my best friend.  He is my lighter side, the part of me that reminds me to let go a little, and not obsess so much over the little things.  I am his organizer, the one who keeps him on time and on schedule.  As we have grown together, we have found ways where we compliment each other...fill in where the other lacks.
As corny as it sounds, he really DOES complete me.
And I love him all the more for it.
So while we've been together for 19 years, we have so many more years to work to make our marriage perfect...in fact, we have eternity to get it right.
Just as long as we keep trying.
Together.