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Yesterday we celebrated 14 years of wedded bliss. Bliss? Well, I’m not sold on that one.  We were 26 when we got married. We’d been together for five years already and thought we knew it all. We’d known love. We’d traveled. We’d lost loved ones. We’d bounced around and lived in several different cities and states already by that point. We genuinely believed that we were special – sharing something that no one else could possibly imagine. That love that people dream about. Yes, we were young. And yes, we were stupid. And entered into marriage having truly no clue what it all meant. That’s just what you do.

Fast forward 14 years. We’ve bounced around, living in even more cities, more states. We’ve managed to travel far less. We’ve fought the ugly fights. The ones we said we’d never have. We’ve had rock bottom moments. 19 years together will do that. We’ve gained pounds and lost hair. We’ve created humans. And are still creating them. We’ve made a crazy life of our own. But through all of it, we’ve stayed intensely loyal, coming to recognize that real love is far less like fairy tales and fabulous times, and more about acceptance, self awareness, compromise, selflessness, and humility. We didn’t know any of that back then on that beautiful spring day in May, but the reality of love and marriage has taught us both the bad and the beautiful and we can only hope that this will pave the path for many more years of learning, laughter, and yes, love – whatever that really means…..