Fifteen Years

Well, tomorrow is my 15th wedding anniversary. On the East Coast I guess it already is. Coincidentally, my wife happens to be celebrating her 15th tomorrow, too. What luck!

A little over a year ago I crossed that line you never see coming, the one where you suddenly realize you are getting old. For me, it began with chest pains and thankfully ended in just a diagnosis of lots of stuff wrong with my digestive system instead of my heart. But as a result, I am never allowed to eat certain foods or drink certain drinks again. Plus, I am never again supposed to eat at certain times of day, and just to top it off, I am also on medication forever. Somehow, the collective effect of all this was to convince me that I will never be young again. That, my friends, is a strange feeling.

But that’s all okay. For a couple of reasons, one being that this all happened in the middle of my life-transforming decision to go to law school (a mid-life crisis is a good time to face a mid-life crisis). The other is that it created some moments of reflection, and I’ve had a few thoughts about mortality and otherwise fun topics. I’ve decided that, although I want to live a long time for the sake of my family, if I really did have to face the end of days I couldn’t complain. I have had a really nice life.

But anyway. Life expectancy for an American man is 76 years, and I am 38. If I get to be average, my mid-life crisis was well-planned. I’ve got an entire second half to play.

15 years of marriage is a pretty long time, but you know, if I get to live that average life of an American male, Jody & I are set for 53 years of this great privilege of marriage. 15 years is a drop in the bucket. Whether I feel young anymore or not, we are really still newlyweds.

I have had a great life from the start, but marrying Jody is the best thing that ever happened to me. I am a lucky man. We have lived through some rather amazing things together, and after them all, our marriage is stronger now than ever. It is pretty exciting to imagine where it will go from here.

So, if you will all kindly turn your heads for a moment, I’d like to wish my wife a happy anniversary. I love you so very much.