20 Year Old Memories

On this day twenty years ago…

I woke up in my parents’ home as a single woman, but I ended the day swept away in a limousine and tucked into the Waterford Hotel as a wife.

My mom and I enjoyed a day full of giggles and shopping.  Two of the things we do best.

Girlfriends met me at the church where we got ready and had our photos taken.

I kissed my dad on the cheek as the trumpet began playing my song, then the double doors were swung open and he walked me down the aisle.

How handsome my groom looked with his beaming smile as I approached. 

We vowed to love and respect each other for richer, or poorer, in sickness and in health.  And we lived through all four of those situations in the two decades to come.

We lit the unity candle in front of hundreds of friends and family as my high school Bible and Choir teacher flawlessly sang the Lord’s Prayer.

We shared our first kiss as a married couple…and then, giggling, I wiped my lipstick off his lips to the laughter of the crowd.

We were announced as Mr. and Mrs.

It was a gorgeous start to an amazing life.  To love and be loved by Tim Streller was an indescribable gift.  I am proud to have been his wife.

Today is both our 20^th wedding anniversary and the fourteen month anniversary of his passing.

Knowing now that our love story would be cut tragically short, if I could sit myself down for a chat, I would tell that 23 year old girl to still choose to marry him.

Because, he was worth it.  This life has been astonishingly beautiful.  Through the trials and the tears, the victories and the growth, side-by-side with daily laughter on our breath; it has ALL been worth it.

Thank you for loving me so well, Tim.  Your love lives on through me and our children.  In the blink of an eye, you will turn around and greet us in our heavenly home.  Until then, we will choose to honor you by continuing to live life fully, love intentionally, and laugh daily.