I Do, February 10, 2001: A Decade Later

Ten years married today.  10 years. Married. Today.  How in the world did John C. ever convince himself to marry Jenny M?? I sometimes still marvel at that. Most days I marvel at that.

We became friends in one of the the most romantic cities in the world-Rome during our semester abroad.  A year later in February 1997, we started dating.  A couple of break ups, a vocation search, a move to DC and the best proposal at the Lincoln Memorial later, and here we are: in WA state, a career change, some infertility, a foster parent license, and a set of twins later, in our own piece of heaven on earth.

Thank you, my dearest friend and husband, for gently nudging me towards striving to be my best, for your patience, for your humor, for your being just you who I met in a state called Texas and fell head over heels in love with 14 years ago in a country called Italy.

You are the best thing that has happened to this Florissant girl, to Little Man, Cherub and Thumbelina and Jill.  Please, don't ever change.

To paraphrase a line from "Sense and Sensibility" (John and I do not share a love of Jane Austen :) ): May I endeavor to deserve you.

Happy 10th, dearest John.

Anniversary

Today would have been the 66th wedding anniversary of my Gram and Grampa Dolan.  They got married October 19, 1944 in St. Louis, Missouri at St. Matthew's parish where they went to grade school together.  Gram (Mary Genevieve Maher Dolan) died 4 years ago, and her absence is still keenly felt in my life.  My grandpa (John Francis Dolan) is turning 92 on Christmas Day. I hope to talk to him on my lunch break and let him know that I love and miss him and am thinking of him and Gram today. They won't be apart forever.

L-O-V-E

Yesterday we celebrated 9 years of marriage. Can it have been that long since we stood in front of the altar of my childhood parish in front of 200+ people to vow to love and honor each other till death do us part?

Fr. Lehrberger who celebrated the wedding Mass talked about L-O-V-E vs. L-U-V. LOVE is a self-sacrificing action which extends out to society. LUV is the world's concept of romance in which the couple, as Father said, lives in a cottage by the sea, wrapped up in each other without living their vocation in the world which needs their love in action. These words have stayed with me over the years and reminded me that marriage creates a family, a little domestic church, which can't thrive and grow if it does not go out of itself into the community.

Thinking about that day reminds me again that a wedding isn't about just those two people. Our families were instrumental in not only the wedding preparations, but our preparation as future husband and wife. Two different families were united and our little family started. My mom, dad and sisters took care of so much for me in Florissant, since I was living in Virginia, and they were in town from Australia. My brother traveled from Colorado where he was living at the time to be in the wedding. John's mom made Miriam's flower girl dress (it was beautiful) and his dad wrote an awesome story for the paper (where he's an editor) about our engagement and wedding. His brothers and sisters were in the wedding as well as our nephew, Andrew, who at 3 years old was a very entertaining ring bearer. Christina got him prepared and made a beautiful ring pillow for him to hold. Christina also organized a long distance Pampered Chef catalog bridal shower.

The more I thought about this day and the many people who were involved and did so much work, and the many friends who got on planes to get to a cold St. Louis where we were nervous about the weather holding out, the more I realized how blessed we are, how much love in action there was, how much grace showered us. So, for us as a newlywed couple to 'live in a cottage by the sea' would be a rejection of the love shown us by so many.

These 9 years of married life have been beautiful, difficult at times, a chance to grow in virtue and love someone as we have never loved before. John is the kind of husband I want my future daughters (God willing) and nieces to meet and marry. I love you, John. God bless you always.