Twenty-Five Years

Rick and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on Monday.  We have truly had a wonderful life together.  (We just got back from a wonderful anniversary trip to French Polynesia which I will post about at a later date.)  For the first anniversary of the day we met (Sept 25th 1988) I wrote Rick a poem.  I wrote it at work a few days before our anniversary.  It was a very simple poem.  I wrote:

It was one year ago that I met my true love.
No, It wasn't just fate we had help from above.
He sent you to me because He knew we would be
Forever in love for all eternity.

I had planned to give it to him the night of our anniversary.  Well, it just so happened that on that day I started miscarrying our baby.  After a full day at the hospital and losing our baby we returned home late that night.  As we were climbing in bed, physically and emotionally exhausted, I remembered my poem.  I pulled it out and simply said,  " I meant to give this to you under happier circumstances."  He read it aloud and pulled me into his arms.  After that he kept that little poem in his pocket for years until it dissentegrated, literally.  I had just written it on a small piece of scratch paper with a pencil and so it lasted about 12 years before it finally fell apart.

On the 10th anniversary of our wedding (January 20, 1999) I wanted to do something out of the ordinary so I wrote another poem.  This one much longer chronicling our married life up until that point.  It started out with the first two lines (except I changed the word met to wed) and ended with the last two lines.  It is framed and hanging in his office.

This year being another 'big' anniversary I wrote another one.  I don't usually post really personal thoughts on my blog but I thought it would be fun to post this anniversary's poem.  It might be a little corny but Rick loved it and I had a good time thinking of rhyming words.  So here goes....

TWENTY FIVE YEARS

It was 25 years ago that I wed my true love
No, it wasn't just fate we had helps from above.
In those years we have seen much joy and some strife
But oh, what a truly wonderful life.

We've seen riding club, soccer, and wrestling gone by,
Foster homes and counseling and five teenagers; Oh My!!
Scouts and Young Women and piano and guitar
And teaching fifteen year olds how to drive a car!

The boys worked at Superior throughout their sumer days
Earning lots of money to pay for their way.
Their Duty to God awards and God's Priesthood they received,
Then Gary gained his Eagle Scout award one eve.

At 18 Kendra received her Young Women's Medallion
Then when she was 19 she became a Master Esthetician!
Kaitlyn finished school in Clearfield at Job Corps
While Alyssia moved to Fairview to live with Penny and Eric some more.

Graduations, College, and a mission have come......
to claim our children into adults, well maybe some:)
Hopefully they'll all get there some day.....
with a little more time and maturity.

With the weddings of two of our oldest ones
We've increased in numbers.  A new daughter and a new son.
First, Kendra married Brach at the temple in Salt Lake City.
Then, the next year Skylar was sealed to Sarah Rigby.

The birth of our first grandchild has brought us much delight.
Rafe Douglas is his name!  He is quite the sight!
This red headed boy is so calm and so sweet
We love him from his head to his tiny little feet.

Now with the announcement of more joy to come....
By the end of the summer we will have TWO more little ones.
Our posterity is growing and it's a wonderful sight to see.
The hope is that we will all be together for eternity.

These twenty five years we have been to many places.
Most of them gave us sunburns on our fair faces!
The small trips from Grantsville to St. George are so cool
Because we get to be together and swim in the pool.

From the gilded homes of Newport's wealthy society
To the old town of Tombstone, Where it's residents lived riotously.
From Montana to Mississippi to Massachussetts to Maine
Remember all those Lobsters we sent home!! Insane!!

From riding in a biplane to sailing in the Atlantic
All of these thrills were sure quite the trick!
From Gettysburg's battlefields to Hershey's Chocolate Factory
Then down South to Charleston to ride in a horse and buggy.

Remember the trips to Oceanside's shores
and then over the border to shop in some stores.
Remember Oregon and Texas with my parents
And then the trip to Florida where you got bit by some ants!

Not just the U.S. but further we've been
From Canada to Paraguay where we met lots of Skylar's friends.
From the Alps of Switzerland to Australia's Gold Coast
To the beach of St. Kitts where we had a nice pig roast:)

From Salzburg, Austria with it's ringing church bells
To the Tubes of London.  We got around quite swell.
From Venice, Italy and it's lovely canals
To the monkeys of Costa Rica and their deafening howls!

From practicing our Spanish in Old Mexico
To snorkeling in the bay of Olawaho.
From the black pearl farms on the island of Tahiti
Traveling the world is such an adventure with my sweetie.

We have such a great life you and I
So many blessings.  It makes me want to cry:)
I am so thankful that we have each other
You are my best friend....(even more than my mother:))

I love that we work in the temple on Wednesdays
A wonderful time to escape this Life's worldly haze.
Helping many souls who have long since passed on
To feel the Savior's light as they leave spirit prison.

I love that we like to do lots of the same things.
Eating at restaurants, golfing, and babysitting.
Life on earth is such a joy with you.
Our love is unending.  Forever we will be true!

Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when He brought us together.
He knew that we would make each other's lives better.
He sent you to me for He knew we would be
Together in love for all eternity.

I know it's not much but Rick loves it and that makes me happy:)  I am truly so blessed to have such a kind and considerate husband.  He is always so selfless and makes my life so, so wonderful.  He is constantly helping and serving other people.  What a blessing and example he has been to me these past 25 years. Some of our children have been extremely difficult to raise.  I am so thankful that we have been united in all of the struggles that have come from that.  He truly is my better half!!