When Your Marriage Feels a Little Like Leather

0

leather-post

We had the most wonderful wedding celebration in New Orleans. I mean the absolute most fun filled, dance in the streets with a live jazz band, while drinking champagne, kind of wonderful wedding celebration. It was nothing less than perfection as far as weddings and brides and grooms and parties go.

But, that was nine long years ago. Nine years since that blessed day when we walked out of the St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square as Mr. & Mrs.  to the sounds of a live jazz band complete with trumpets and popping bubbly bottles.

In that time, we have lived in five houses in three cities. We have added three children via two pregnancies to our family. We’ve changed jobs ten times cumulatively and we have lost precious loved ones, found new life-long friends, and held on to the ones we brought with us when it all started.img_7928

The modern gift for the nine-year wedding anniversary is leather. When I first heard this, I thought, “well that’s kind of boring and leaning to the hubby’s side of things isn’t it? What happened to to the
flowers, candy, silver or crystal of years past?”

Then, I thought of my favorite journal. It is an old, tethered blue leather bound book filled with pages that have crumbling golden edges. Through the crumbles, you can still see the sparkle of the original gold embossing. On the cover, the cracks and flakes make me think of all the places that journal has traveled with me. To this day, I re-read the stories that fill it, some more than 15 years old, to remind myself of the dreams I have had the honor of seeing fulfilled.  Some of the stories bring tears, because they remind me of what may never be.

In it all, I see the beauty of a story worth reading again and again, and in the empty pages at the back of the book, I still write what my heart yearns for most in our marriage, and now in our family of five. 

In that way, leather is the most perfect symbol for our anniversary this year. We are soft and worn now, not as sturdy and filled with confidence to conquer the world; but our sparkle is still there in the edges, and our story is definitely worth re-reading many times over.  Best of all, there is still much to be written in the years to come, and our now flexible leathering binding will make room for the stories we never imagined writing.

 

 

Next articleMy Husband is Not My Role Model
Christina
In the last 10 years, Christina and her husband, Jonathan have lived in five houses in three cities and had three children via two pregnancies. Moving to Richmond, Virginia fulfilled a life long dream of living in a place where autumn feels like autumn and the beach and mountains are both within a couple hours drive. Christina’s passion to inspire women, and to bring them together in a way that is authentic and brave drive her to create a community that will change the world for the better, one family at a time. When she's not writing, you can usually find Christina out exploring a local museum, library or hiking trail with her three children or out tasting some of the delicious food Richmond has to offer with her husband.