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Mario and I - taken two days ago

Today I have been married twenty five years.

The day we wed, I swore like a sailor.  Mario had a terrible flu and I was worried he might not make it to the seven o’clock nuptials.  Why did I choose a winter wedding?  Why did I choose an evening ceremony? 

 I asked myself these questions like they would make a difference.  At that moment they didn’t matter…  At that moment we were going to get married and Mario had a horrid flu. 

The day was a forecast of the next twenty five years.  The less than ideal settings allowed me to see my exceptional husband rise above the terrible circumstances that threatened to steal my happiness.  He married me, sick as a dog and practically fainting from fever.  That night our idyllic honeymoon surroundings found us in bed, Mario shivering with fever.  I fell sick the next day and thanked him for going through with the ceremony.  I don’t know if I could have done it.

 Mario and I are polar opposites.  He is a realist; I am a romantic.  He loves the steady, predictable mathematical patterns that drive me nuts.  I adore fried foods and rich fare; Mario is a high-protein man who is content with steak and salad.  He is a perfect introvert and studies with no distractions; I love tons of people around me, write with my earphones in my spare time.  He is athletic; I am creative.  He loves our family and so do I; he loves me and I love him.

Somehow he married me…and we have remained best friends.  Our private struggles have been scary and unsettling; our trials in public have been embarrassing.  We have endured the sorrow and grief of death, hardships and lean times.  We have enjoyed wealth, lavished on us by a God who loves us beyond measure.

 Yesterday I woke and watched him.  He is a hunk; a beautiful man who has been strong every day I have known him  What made him marry me?  I can’t figure out why he did and why he has stayed,  but I am grateful.  We have a covenant partnership and he takes it seriously.   He is easy to love, appreciate and adore.  He is beautiful, sexy, tender and real.  He is my genuine husband, an inheritance here on earth that I truly don’t deserve.

 Today is silver; but I have been given a golden man.

Happy Anniversary, babe.  

I love you.