from (near) death to life: magic on the aquafresh aisle

for those interested, my dad is doing better. trying to strengthen himself and get used to a more healthy, less bacon-y existence.

july 15. for most of you, this day may mean nothing in particular. for me, it has some significance.

about 14 years and a few months ago, as i was finishing my high school career, i met someone. and she was pretty. still is. and today (july 15) is her birthday.

many people have wonderful stories of meeting their spouse or significant other on a beach in spain, or across a crowded room as their eyes locked, love-lorn, onto each other. i have friends who met their mates at church, at school, at other weddings. me and april? kmart. and not by shopping happenstance. we were both counted among the red-vested, and one night, after a few flirty weeks of conversation, i asked her out on the toothpaste aisle. as luck would have it, she said yes, and so we went, together, to city stages and i got winked at by a dude. now, 14 years (12 of them married), 3 kids, a few houses and several jobs later, we are still here, still together. and i couldn't be happier about the whole deal.

to be able to see someone enter adulthood and become a wife and mother is a thrilling thing. when the relationship started among the dental hygiene products at the trussville kmart, we were both kids. i was 18, she was 17. to say that a lot has changed would be an understatement. we have gotten older, sure, but we have also lived life together. been to pinnacles of goodness on our wedding day and as our kids were born. been through some valleys, too, as we lost jobs and friends and watched grandparents pass away. and we share those things. we have been shaped, collectively, by those experiences, and indeed the common experiences of work and school and meals and everyday life. i have never shared so much of my life, so much of myself with any other person. she knows me in all my glory and shame. i have trusted her with my own life, and she has trusted me with hers.

i like to think that if there is any good in me, that it has been shaped in the ups and downs of our relationship. without april , i would totally be jimmy fallon from Fever Pitch, completely consumed with something trivial, out of touch with reality (but i would have a way cool Green Monster on my wall). but because of her, i know, even just a little, what matters. i don't know if i believe that everyone has a single soulmate, and life is about finding that person (even if they are in pakistan), but i do know that i was created to love and be loved. we all were. and i am so happy that i chose to seek that love with a pretty girl from pinson valley. it gives me joy. it gives me meaning. and i am terribly grateful that she chose me, too. it has been a wonderful set of years, and i would choose no one else to spend the rest of my years with. here's hoping that it is many, many years.

and here's hoping that our love will grow from the toothpaste aisle at a kmart through the vows we shared on our wedding day, through us as we live our lives together to our kids as they grow.

happy birthday, april. i love you.