the young and the clueless

This week I'm taking a walk down Memory Lane.
Yesterday, I posted the story of how Marko and I met and started dating.
Today I thought I'd sorta fill in the gaps between then and now.

1994.

19 and 23.

Dated for 6 months (4 of which were spent 20 hours apart from each other).

Engaged on Christmas day. 

He came to my parents' house in the morning.

I was still in my pj's...had bed head and morning breath. 

He still proposed. 

It must have been true love.

We were so young and naive! We didn't have a clue about marriage. 

All we knew was that we wanted to be together...forever.

Good thing we were committed to making it work.

We made it through horribly cooked meals,

being penniless,

differences of opinion in almost everything,

miscommunication,

stubbornness (on both sides),

major illnesses and life-saving surgery,

miscarriages,

and...life.

2010.
35 and 39.

Now, almost 16 years later, we have 

better cooking (for the most part!),

stability,

acceptance,

honesty,

comfort in each other,

health,

children,

laughter,

and satisfaction in a marriage that we have worked hard to create.

Don't get me wrong. Our life is far from fairy dust and rainbows.
But in the space between what was and what is,
there is a wisdom and a mellowing that has happened. 

I have to say, I'm really looking forward to the next 16 years!