Anniversary

June 9, 2009

Today is the eighth wedding anniversary of the day Duarte and I were married in Chaves, Portugal. All day long I have been remembering that very special day.

This morning Duarte and I rode our bikes up through Nantes - which is coincidentally where the church is located where Duarte and I were married. As we were passing by, we noticed the caretaker just leaving the church. We stopped her and told her it was our wedding anniversary and asked if we could go inside the church. She happily obliged our request and she oddly even remembered that it had been eight years to the day.

Wearing our cycling clothes, Duarte and I walked into the small church and I was overwhelmed with memories from that exquisite day. I could see my family sitting on the left side of the chapel…my mom in her blue suit, my grandmother and grandfather, my uncles with tears in their eyes. On Duarte’s side, many relatives I didn’t yet know but who have since become a part of lives when we are here in Portugal. My father accompanied me down the aisle. Because we hadn’t had any kind of rehearsal – I I didn't know when to start down the aisle. There was a string quartet playing Pachobel’s Canon and the flowers my mom and I had chosen filled the chapel. I remember walking too quickly into the church but nothing I could do could slow me down. Duarte waited for me up front – wiping tears from his eyes. I felt beautiful in my dress and Duarte was so handsome. I remember little of the ceremony as it was completely in Portuguese but I remember my feelings of pride and hope and exhilaration and of course assuredness.

We left the chapel and continued our mountain bike ascent together up over Nantes and over Chaves. Our ride gave me time to think about Duarte and I. It has been quite a journey since that ceremony eight years ago. We have two beautiful, spirited children. We have encountered ups and downs neither of us could have ever anticipated. We enjoy a steady, strong marriage that continues to grow and blossom. Riding together and enjoying each other still is a beautiful gift which I need never to take for granted. I most certainly have a full and abundant life and this is because of the incredible man I married eight (or nine ☺) years ago today.