I heard him say it to his friend, the friend who's been married all of seven weeks, and he said with his face all lit up, "Ya, marriage just gets better and better. We have so much fun together."
I chuckled and put myself right in the middle of their conversation. "Really? You would still say that after the past four days we've had together?" After the words fell out I was kinda hoping that I could have slurped them right back in and swallowed them.
His friend chuckled, "so what's been going on the past four days?"
And my Joey, he said it light-hearted, "Oh not much... her eyes just seem to keep shedding water."
Then he looked at me, "It's how all the days add up into years that make a marriage great... not just a few days of tears that make it bad."
A few hours later we were in the Bluebird Theater in downtown Denver, his friend and the band were set to flood the stage. The room was packed, it was a sold out show. Besides his friend's Aunt and Grandma we just might have been the oldest folks in the theater.
All shapes and sizes walked past us trying to find their own spot in the crowd to watch the show. And just as the lights went down my Joey, he turned towards me, winked and smiled wide. And my soul soaked it in. Out of all of what the world calls beautiful (the short skirts, the low cut shirts, the mere 100 pounders with their rather large chests) that surrounded us in that room, at that moment, his eyes still chose my eyes, and my insides lit up.
I had already been feeling much better since Tuesday, but that moment, that wink, that smile, sealed the deal and I remembered there are always gifts that are being given. And some of the best gifts are wrapped up in the tiniest packages... a smile on his face, and his eyes only for me.
It's all these seemingly little moments that add up and somehow make a life, somehow make a marriage, a union that after 11 years still has eyes finding each other in the dark places.
Counting the gifts...
#433-445
The 6-year-old who cleans the house as a surprise for his Mama. THree potty-trained, one to go. Homemade blackberry ice cream on a warm summer afternoon. Sitting on the front porch of the farmhouse with My Joey and watching the thunder storm roll in. Prayers on the couch in the dark with the one I love. Camping, kids in the dirt, a box of Apple Jacks, and hours of rugged entertainment. Steam rolls over treasures tucked in sleeping bags in the tent. The funny things kids say. How she understands "fasting"... "You eat really fast so that you can have more time to spend with God." His eyes still chose mine. :)
