There's a Ribbon in the Sky

Thirteen years ago, The Hubs and I said, "I do," before God and some of our closest friends and family, on a magical evening, 500 feet above sea level, on the beautiful island of Jamaica, in the Caribbean.  The sun, setting in the background, was the perfect backdrop as we celebrated into the night.

Our wedding song was There's a Ribbon in the Sky by Stevie Wonder, and I'm realizing now that that song is the perfect theme of our marriage...in more ways than one.




The week before our wedding, we flew to the island of both our births, to take care of last minute preparations. We faced not one, not two, but three hurricanes that September. In hindsight, it was probably not a great idea to plan a wedding, in the Caribbean, and during hurricane season!  Note to self and others - Not. A good idea.

But in the end, on that day, 13 years ago, the rain stopped, the skies cleared, and the sun poked through the clouds, just in time, to give us beautiful wedding photos.

There's a ribbon in the sky.

Turns out our vows, "In sickness and in health," would have great meaning much sooner than either one of us would ever have imagined.  You see, The Hubs' health would take a turn for the worse and there would be several years of dialysis, countless trips to the emergency room, lots of worry and stress that a young married couple should never, ever, have to deal with, and years and years of waiting on a kidney transplant list.

But in the end, after five years of suffering, we would get the call from Emory. A match had been found, and The Hubs would get his long awaited transplant and the chance at a new life.

There's a ribbon in the sky.

I was beginning to think we would never be lucky enough to become parents.  We were married almost seven years and we weren't getting pregnant. Perhaps it was due to the stress of The Hubs being sick. Maybe it just wasn't in the cards for us. I was beginning to believe that.

But almost a year to the date of The Hubs' transplant, guess who got preggers!

There's a ribbon in the sky.

When I look back over our 13 years of marriage, there are some definite lows and some awesome highs.  We are not perfect people. We both say and do things, from time to time, that upset each other.  We argue and fight like any other couple. But the happy times far outweigh the unhappy ones.

And what has always been a constant is our love and respect for each other. We try to out-serve each other and put God first. Our church has also been a tremendous blessing to our marriage, helping us to navigate through life's challenges and raising a family. At the end of the day, I look forward to coming home to my safe haven and sanctuary.

To have a partner in life that I truly love and respect, that I want to grow old with, and travel the world with, is really rare by today's standards. I told The Hubs on our anniversary that I didn't regret marrying him.  We laughed about it.  But it's true. With all we've been through, there's just no one I'd rather do "life" with.

There is...truly...a ribbon in the sky, for our love.