Milestones

As I look back at my life… I tend to remember some of those milestone events that are supposed to be important and significant… as not so great!

I’ll give a brief overview of what I recall:

Turning 18: This happened a month after my HS graduation, and only 4 days before I married my high school sweetheart. Needless to say, there was plenty going on with a wedding (even a simple ‘elopement’ type) and packing up my stuff.

Turning 21: The marriage was already in turmoil and I spent all day at work, and that night alone… (I think I went to see a movie).

Turning 25: I had just moved from CA to WA to see if my marriage could be saved (it couldn’t). I was alone, scared, and about to start a new job. (My insurance rate did go down!)

This should give a good indication of how much I looked forward to each and every milestone in my life… the good news is that when I moved to WA… and got that new job… things began to improve!

Shortly before turning 26, I accepted Christ… married my best friend (we had a wonderful wedding)… we bought our first home… became pregnant with our son… then our daughter. These were milestones that were priceless, treasured moments in my life!

Then things got scary, and our “for better or worse… in sickness and in health” quickly became a reality! The silver lining in that storm is that the day after my 30th birthday, my hubby had his last round of chemo… what an amazing gift for both of us!

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln

On my 40th birthday the best present, and biggest blessing, was that he’d made it to that magical 10 years in remission!

Not that long ago, it felt like that day might never arrive… now that its come and gone… what an enormous relief and monumental event it truly was!

In April we celebrated 15 years of marriage… another huge milestone for so many reasons! The fact he’s stayed healthy AND that he’s put up with me… is nothing short of a miracle!

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

What an emotional roller-coaster we’ve been on… but the ride was well worth it! Today as we celebrate his 40 years on this earth… I hope he knows how special he is to me… how much he’s blessed my life… and that I look forward to each and every milestone (no matter how bitter-sweet they have a tendency to be) as long as he’s by my side…

“Life begins at 40 – but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times.” Helen Rowland

Happy Birthday, Dale… I love you and can’t wait to see what’s next for us… oh, and thank goodness you’ve finally hit the BIG 40 so you can stop harassing me! (I’m only 18 mos older, hehe)

Cool side note: The hubby was doing some work on updating my site, and told me that my next post (which ended up being this one) is my number 100! How cool is that… a surprise milestone for my post on Milestones…

Tagged as: 100th Post, 40th, Anniversary, Babies, Birthday, Blessings, Cancer, Milestones, Remission, Wedding