32 years

Today is Jim and my 32nd wedding anniversary.  I have a lot to say about this, so buckle up.  

First off, 32 years is a very long time to stay married to the same person.  Especially if you are Jim.  I know I am a lot.  I tend to bite off a lot. Wanted a lot of kids.  Volunteer our services a lot.  Expect a lot.  Talk a lot, have a lot of hobbies and interests and work a lot of jobs.  Jim is a very patient man.  I get that.  And I am extremely blessed that he is willing to put up with, and even help with all of it.  The kids, the animals, the constant running, the insanity.  I am 100% sure that had I not disrupted his life, he would be happily hanging out watching a little tv with his feet up, maybe even having a cold beer.  But it doesn't roll that way in my world.  He is inundated by people, and noise and, well chaos is the best description of Hope's world.  And I know that not everyone would be as tolerant and giving as he is.  Jim is my polar opposite.  It is almost funny.  He is a thinker, a planner, a safety and rules and order kind of person.  I like to jump into things and figure them out as I go.  I tend to watch a You tube video and then decide I know enough about the subject to tackle a project that I have no business tackling.  Jim is there to ask all the pertinent questions, and generally to save my butt.  You know - its called balance.  

I will also say that 32 years has flown by.  Has it all been sunshine and rainbows?  Hell no.  It has been dirty, and messy, and hard.  But I think that is what love really is.  It is about choosing to love a person, even when it is messy.  The hard times hardly compare to the good that has come from our marriage, and I am very thankful I can say that.  I am also thankful that Jim said yes when I told him I wanted a big family.  It was not a logical choice - kids are expensive!  I had no idea how we would do it, but like everything, I wanted to do it anyway.  Jim embraced the dream, and he has gone from never having held an infant, to the best dad (and poppy) I could have ever asked for my kids. A lot of people have given us grief over the years - large families just aren't that common anymore.  Some have even been rude, but we know that every single one of our children was a blessing to our lives.  

And the grandkids?  That is just a bunch of cherries on top of a very sweet life!  We are loving the grandparent gig!  

This year, I swore I was going to do a better job of getting photos of Jim and I together.  Or actually just of us in general.  I did better than before, but it is still not too good.  I had to search a long time to drum these babies up!  It is a work in progress.  My phone has 20,400 photos on it (literally), and this is what I can come up with!  It is good to have goals in a marriage, right?  

As we celebrate our anniversary, the important thing is that after all this time, after all the chaos, and the hard times, and the good times, I still love this man.  He is the person who I can count on to pick me up when I fall, to cover for me when I decide at the last minute I want to stay home, to hold my hand when I need someone beside me.  He knows when to let me cry, when to intervene in my "projects," how hard to push, when to back off, he keeps my secrets.  He makes me laugh and lets me be my own insane person.  I will never know how I found someone who is absolutely opposite of me, and yet absolutely perfect for me.  Thank you for being my best everything - I love you Jim!