Letter #24/30- The Person Who Gave You Your Favorite Memory

Dear Tim,

Remember when we went for a helicopter ride?

Whenever I ask you this, it's as though I have touched the center of the Hoover Dam only to find it explode away and gush forth memory upon memory of our years together. I cannot choose a favorite, for you are my favorite; every moment with you is my favorite!

I remember every summit we have reached together. Not just San Gorgonio, San Jacinto, or Shasta, but those apexes of life that we have looked out from, side by side.

The surprise wedding band, just giggling and smiling our way through our vows. Dancing our choreographed steps on our wedding day, cutting our fabulous splash mountain cake, the pure realization that we were husband and wife and able to enjoy--together-- all that marriage holds.

The day we both labored intensely to deliver Madeleine Jael, to finally see her crying in our arms and the utter delight in birthing our first child in our home. A child who symbolized the deep and soulful desire to express to you my willingness to be melded to you forever in the form of another human being. A beautiful child that only we could create together- is there anything more expressive of pure marital love than the fruitfulness of the home? I thank God that He has given us the ability to bear children and for me to be like a fruitful vine filling our home with wild olives, surrounding us and blooming with flourishing grace. (Psalm 128:3)

Then, the excitement of the second child- to anticipate with experiential understanding the joy and bliss of another baby. That morning when we labored and Gracen November joined our family, it was wonderful. Even the shared knowledge that, unless the Lord plans otherwise, we have even more children on our horizon. That our desire to love the other is a tangible reality in our children. I love our radical attitude towards our offspring, the wild notion that our children, as an extension of our love, are not just a seasonal obligation- but rather a joyful anticipation as God forms our family.

Sea turtles in Champagne Pond, Peppermint Joe Joes, our boat bed, knowing way too many Office quotes, worshipping Christ through communion, dance parties in the kitchen, Great Harvest breakfasts, Cirque De Soleil's The 'O' show, Sedona, Texarkana, Big Sur, San Diego, Fort Worth, Portland, Denver, Utah, Lake Mead, Lake Powell, our home. Anywhere you are is where I want to be.

You are the sweet Love of my Life.

Love, slg