love

Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.
~ Louis De Bernieres

Nine years ago today I experienced a "temporary madness" of being totally and completely in love with a man who happens to look like Mr. Incredible, and married him. Nine years later, that "earthquake" has subsided and I have made a decision to love this man no matter what happens...and one heckuva lot has happened. In nine years we have renovated an entire 1930s house, moved twice, Mr. Incredible has endured 3 different corporate environments, which were largely unpleasant, 2 bosses who were, in a word, horrid, a few others who weren't, but were all too temporary, he has lost both of his parents, sold the home and farm he grew up on, and, of course, what made all of this tolerable, we had 4 children who neither one of us thought we would, or could, have. And now, last but not least, we are both experiencing a loss of a job for the very first time. Yes, he has joined the unemployment statistics and has been laid off.

So....the fortunate accident is that we found each other and our roots have grown together. We are one tree. And everyone knows that if you have good roots, anything can grow. We are excited, nervous, anxious, and worried, about the next few (hopefully "few"!) months of growth. I hope, pray, wish and beg that it is a really, really good blossom of a job for Mr. Incredible.

Happy 9th Anniversary to my farm boy (hence the tractor that took us from the chapel to our reception)! It feels like a lot more than 9 years...in a good way...I think.....