We Just Celebrated 18 Years!

By: Amy Wise

Who knew on a fateful day 19 years ago while driving up the 805 freeway in San Diego, my life would change forever?!   That was the day I “met” my hubby, and our future was set in motion. The story still blows my mind!

Now, flash forward to…August 21st, 2011…our 18th wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by since that first day we saw each other on the freeway. We have been through so much together and have come so far, and neither one of us would have ever imagined that we would be where we are today. We are best friends, shoulders for each other, lovers, parents, partners, soul mates, and so much more. There are days when we laugh, there are days when we cry, and there are days when we want to “strangle” each other, but there is never, ever a day that goes by that we don’t love each other completely. We don’t take each other for granted and we realize how lucky and blessed we are to have each other.

Time has changed circumstances, but time has not changed us. We are more in love today than the day we got married. There is a deepness to that love that only time, heartache, life, happiness, and challenges can bring. It’s the “getting through” and the “making it out” of the dark times that has truly allowed us to embrace the “bright times” with joy.

I love my husband not just with all my heart, but deep down to my soul. We just fit so very perfectly, while also being so very different. It’s hard to even explain.

As we celebrate another anniversary, I want to say thank you, for the most amazing, life altering, wonderful, 18 years! I love you Jamie J…happy, happy anniversary! Here’s to many, many more! We rock!

A Single Mom And Her Friend’s Wedding

By: Allison Norris

I held my heart watching the people who had always held her hand find their white seats.

A friend of mine got married last night. I met her in 6th grade and we’ve been friends ever since. She got her first period in the bathroom at my mom’s store and we thought she had pooped her pants. I slept at her house on Thursday nights and appreciated the consistent lunches that her mom would pack for us: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut straight down the middle and a capri sun for sure. Her beautiful teeth and lashes for days attracted all sorts of boys that would grow into men – some of them better than others, but none as good as her new husband.

I stood on the hardwood dance floor in my heels and autumn appropriate dress and watched as the people I had known almost my entire life felt the music. Clapping and smiling, they cheered with pure joy for the couple in the middle and I realized that that very moment is why people get married…

It was like those movies where the cheesy song plays and the camera goes in slow motion in a circle catching random high kicks and people holding hands. I was in my own movie observing the beauty around me. Old and very young, it felt so natural, like we were truly of the same species programmed to feel rhythm and happiness.

I thought about the paths that our lives take and that I never would have expected to be a mother at 25 and not married. I didn’t know if I’d ever be married… and I certainly didn’t think I’d have children, because they’re annoying. And here I was, watching my beautiful friend, on a gorgeous rainy night, dance with her true love and start the rest of her life.

We may have done things in a different order, and I still don’t know if I’ll ever be married, but she sure made it look easy.

Nice Day For A White Wedding?

By: Tom Butts

It’s unfortunate, but airlines aren’t the only thing affected by a big snow storm.  The so called “Snow Storm of the Century” could also delay Congress weighing in on DC’s decision to make gay marriage legal.  How do these two topics even relate you ask??

Well, by law Congress has 30 legislative days to review all laws signed by the DC Mayor (Adrian Fenty – in case you’re thinking it’s still “cracked-out” Mayor Marion Berry).  If the Capitol shuts down, so does the clock that counts down the 30 days.

What this means is that gay marriage may not become law until mid-March.  Fortunately, even with all the talk about the devastating defeat the Democrats had in the Senate in Massachusetts, we still have 59 votes and a much larger margin in the House.  Gay marriage hasn’t been legal or recognized in the 233 years we’ve been a country, so what’s another week or two…right?!