30 Years is Just the Beginning

Today is a special day. 30 years ago, someone received a pretty awesome Mother's Day gift.



My mother-in-law Deanna had her 2nd son, a little smiling baby she decided to name Justin.

He grew and grew. The bedroom he's sleeping in here is now our baby's room. The bed in the picture below is still in that room, instead of holding a sleeping little boy it will hold very tired parents, and serve as a place to change diapers and cuddle the next generation.



When I met him, he still had this dog. Her name was Angel. See that joy on his face right there? He still has it. More often now, I see it when he has a really good moment with our son. Is there anything better than watching a Dad and his kid?



He came into my life less than a month before I turned 19. We have something that most people don't - a photo of us on our first date.



I bet we felt so grown up. HA! Just look at us.



We got older, and had many adventures together. We moved away from home to Seattle together, me to go to college, him for a job. We traveled together, bought our first property together, sold it, got into debt, got out of debt, and back in. We faced divorces, medical emergencies, infertility, hard times. We enjoyed life together too, friends and travel and all the little things too, amazing times.



10 years later, we have celebrated dozens of times. Christmases, Valentines Days, Birthdays, Anniversaries. 10 years later, we are older and wiser, more experienced.



30 years ago, a baby was born. 6 months later, another mother received a precious gift. 20 years after that, we somehow found each other in this big, big world. 26 years after, we received our own precious gift, a baby that made us into a family. And almost exactly 30 years later, we'll complete our little family with another blonde little boy who will undoubtedly grow to look very much like his father.

After all the ups and downs of these last 10 years, I look at him sometimes and my heart overflows with love, with things I can't even describe.

After 10 years, I can still marvel in amazement at the fact that we found each other, the fact that our family is what I always wanted. I watch him with our son and I get choked up thinking about how lucky our children are that they'll have a father who loves them so much and isn't afraid to show it to them. He makes me laugh. He lifts me up.

After 10 years, I can still picture us growing old together, celebrating dozens more birthdays together, and I still can't wait.

Happy Birthday, Justin.