Thanksgiving: 15 Years of Marriage!

This Thanksgiving Day (November 26, 2009), Dave and I celebrate exactly 15 years of marriage! Wow! Although we are privileged enough to have grown up in intact homes (my parents have been married for close to 41 years and Dave's were married 57 years), FIFTEEN YEARS seems like a really long time when it comes to this day and age. It also seems like a really long time ago that we walked down that aisle and said our "I Dos" to each other. We were two very different people then, and we both admit that we like the people we are today much better.

So much has happened in those 15 years...schooling, careers, a child...the ups and downs of figuring out how to work together and stay together. Some years have been extremely difficult - with chaos, challenges and heartache. Some years have been phenomenally wonderful - with celebrations, accomplishments, deeper realizations of who are as individuals and as a couple... so that I feel like we have finally come to this place of understanding quite a bit more about what it means to have really lived life together - the good, the bad and the ugly.

By no means am I suggesting that we have it all figured out. We still fight about the SAME THINGS, we still are frustrated by the very same quirks we came into this marriage with, still confounded by the other person at times... but one of the things I've really noted about all the years we've been together is that we TALK... we talk A LOT! It's a constant conversation with the two of us - sharing what we're struggling with, who we're struggling with, what we think of a situation, what we think of each other (good and bad), what we think the solution to the current political crisis of the day might be, the article we just read in the paper, the book that he wanted to read but I read for him and give him the synopsis when I'm done (he does plenty of reading for work)...that has been one of the keys to our survival as a couple...

...that and our faith...our belief that something larger than us is at work in our lives and that our vows to our God go much deeper than how we feel about one another on any particular day. That's been the one thing that has kept us talking, moving in the same direction... I know for others this isn't an ingredient, and that's okay. But, for us... it's been the ingredient that has grown our love, our respect and our care for each other through the years.

And, finally... I am grateful to be married to a man who sees me as his equal in life... his partner, if you will. One of the major factors in my decision to marry him was the fact that he wrote me a long letter right before our engagement. He wanted to know what my dreams were and how he could help me achieve them... I was amazed at this man who had a desire to journey through life together - helping each other reach goals... it wasn't just about his career, his dreams, his desires and I was merely there to help him get what he wanted. Dave Quan was the first guy I had dated or encountered in my life who recognized that my value in our relationship was SEPERATE from his. I was an individual with goals and dreams and they deserved to be pursued just as much as his own. And as much as my church friends at times might scoff at the egalitarian nature of our relationship... I must say... it has worked for us... because this Thursday we are celebrating 15 years of marriage!!!

So, this is a Thanksgiving tribute to my husband...Dave - I am grateful for you and our marriage...for the years we've shared together, all the struggles and joys that have come with it. And I am grateful for your love and grace that have been so important in my journey. Happy Anniversary!!!

We had a great time celebrating this past week with our friends - Johnny & Susan Myers - at our favorite Hill Country destination... The Inn Above Onion Creek... Enjoy the pics!