This was our anniversary week.
We did a variety of fun things to celebrate our ‘time’ together.
The day is always a good time for us, to remember how far we have come.
When we stood at the altar of the church as young, barely out of high school teens.
We had no idea what kind of dance marriage is and would be for us.
I call it a dance because there are moves in many directions as the years come and go.
The stage of young marrieds, alone and discovering how to navigate out of your parents home.
Then the stage of new expectant parents, anticipating a new baby and what that would look like together.
Then the parenting stage of crying infants, diapers, and lack of sleep.
Then the stage of no money and little sleep again, and toddlers and no energy.
Then the stage of preschool and driving to a place who you trust, to take care of your child.
The stage of trusting and hoping all will be well when they enter into grade school.
Then the stage of junior high and then on into high school, and you wonder and you wait, to see if you did a good job or not as they grow into young adult hood.
Then the stage of them emancipating themselves and moving out, starting a new journey of their own.
Then you drive away from the college campus and you pray for safety and the money to be enough and for them to make good choices.
Then you find yourselves standing as the parents of the groom, and you are now in the role of in-laws and how proud you are in this stage of life.
Then you find yourselves sitting in a nicu room filled with tiny babies, with your daughter, and one of them is YOUR first grand baby.
Then you become the parents of the bride, and then more grand babies come into your lives, and soon you find yourselves calling each other grandma and grandpa.
The dance of marriage is ongoing. You grow old together, seasons change just like the beat of the music.
The journey is easy if you follow slowly and learn to be adaptable.
The dance of growing older and marveling at how far you have come, and knowing that forty two years is a long time to learn this dance.
I love the imagery of dancing together, because every season of life is different and we must learn new steps to get through it.
We have years ahead of us, where the dance of aging will be even more difficult, than the young parenting years.
Oh we thought that would never pass, we just could not see how it would be ‘different’, those who told us, someday you will look back and realize how far you have come.
The dance of remembering is sweet and sad at the same time.
We moved through the dance of losing our parents and letting go of that part of our lives.
The days now are quiet and sometimes lonely.
Often you find ourselves in the stage of waiting again, and wondering if they will call or come visit, just as your own parents did many years ago.
The caretaking days have ended and even though, the dance of marriage is both difficult and rewarding.
In the end, it is beauty and a story unfolding, of life and of love, and of a familiar commitment.
This was our anniversary week and I pray for many more.

{THIS is part of the five minute writing challenge on one word: the word was dance}