Happy Anniversary (to me)

Today is my wedding anniversary. It's been six years now.

I remember it clearly. We just had a small family wedding. I didn't feel the need for a huge wedding. It was nice and just what I had imagined it would be. The only thing I didn't do that I wish I had was play our song "At Last" (Etta James) as we were lighting the unity candle. I was stressed at the time because I was doing all the planning myself and just didn't take the time to find the CD. But, other than that, the day was all I could have hoped for.

I was living on my own at the time, but I spent the night before my wedding at my parent's house one last time as a single girl. When I got up in the morning, my mom had prepared a nice breakfast. After breakfast, it was off to the church. The wedding was at 11:00 AM. The only people invited were close family and Michael and I invited one friend a piece. I think there ended up being about 28 people at our wedding. They were our parents, my grandmothers, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, Michael's brothers, Michael's brother Frank's girlfriend- of -the- moment (I don't think I ever saw her again after the wedding), my friend, Flora, and Michael's friend, Blaine (oh, yeah, and Blaine's mom-she was his date). It was truly a family affair. I didn't hire photographers or anything like that. My cousin's wife, Jan, took the pictures. Frank video taped everything. Timmy (another of Michael's brothers) ran the sound system.

I never got nervous about getting married. I knew I was doing the right thing. The only time I got nervous was when it was time for Michael to walk out, it took longer than I thought. I thought maybe he'd changed his mind. Turns out, he was waiting on the pastor and that's what took him a while to walk out.

My dad walked me down the isle. He even wore a tux, which is very out of character for my dad. When he gave me away, he kissed me on my cheek and when the pastor asked "Who gives this woman?", I heard my dad's voice quiver as he said "Her mother and I."

Then, my pastor's wife sang, "From This Moment" by Shania Twain. During the song, Michael turned to me and told me I was beautiful. It was all I could do to not cry. I had to bite my lip and I couldn't look at him for a while.

We didn't have a bridesmaid or a groomsman. Holden was Michael's best man. When it was all over, we walked down the aisle and Holden followed behind us. When we got out, I turned around and Holden was crying. That made me cry. He was crying because he was so happy that we were married.

After the ceremony, we had a catered lunch for everyone. Then, it was off to the honeymoon in Williamsburg, VA.

I have never regretted marrying Michael. He is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. (Holden and Riley being the other great things that have happened.)

We've had our ups and downs over the years, but hasn't everyone? We've defiantly had more good times than bad. But, I've learned that whatever adversity comes our way, we come out stronger in the end. I look forward to many, many more years with him and I can't wait to see what lies around the bend.