Remember when I wore your sweatshirt How I loved you so much that my heart hurt When we watched the sun dip over the horizon And everything smelled like cinnamon spice then When I found your hands wrapped around mine Like someone so desperately had committed a crime But you and I, we had an alibi Sealed tight not to repeat It was our little secret that was meant to keep But the snowflakes fell And everyone everywhere knew of our tell We hadn’t hidden ourselves so well With the sun at our backs The rays dispersed through the cracks What was once a life that was meant to be ours Now submerged into the water like fallen stars

today 3 years 94608000 seconds you learn their fears together beckons

your mate and spouse your best friend and closest "I do", announce at the lowest only one noticed

Love Love Love Love is sacrifice putting their happiness above no matter what has is to be sacrificed

But love is also the best thing in life you can find Happy wife happy life? But together entwined

So for now and always Jehovah and you today and all days together forever, who knew?

You did weather sunshine or rain mud or grass together u slid through the storm again

Creaking, a rocking chair sways back and forth. Squeaking, it rolls more upon the deep hazel floor beneath. Scratching, the chair halts to two dirtied sneakers. the man stands, back crackling to the whim of age. He stands at the window observing the thick black clouds encroaching slowly. Wrinkles soften his expression, revealing his preoccupied gloomy thoughts.

 His eyes then lay on his husband, gently absorbing him. lying on a pink, flower adorned couch, his husband rests taking occasional deep breaths through his snoring gape. A fond smile opens on the mans face, folding creases on his cheeks, as he hikes to the kitchen. 

 Taking only one stride at a time, he opens the cutlery drawer, drawing a thick metal knife. A clattering of rain shaves the rambling silence away. Reacting, the man jumps for a moment before resting the knife on the marble island in the midst of the kitchen. He looks over to the couch quickly. The snoring continues after a lingering pause. Relieved, the man turns to the fridge and heaves it open.

 Thunder rumbles on just as the man opens the fridge. Lying inside is a singular ripe tomato. The mans frown echos around his face, sagging his cheeks. His tired eyes close wishing for more then received. He closes the fridge, returning the knife as well, and bumbles back into the rocking chair.

 He sits creaking, squeaking, and scratching while the storm envelopes the solemn room.

Ever since the move, the blue sun kissed skies of the west coast had been replaced with the equally grey skies of London, England.

Perpetually grey and always raining, London was the furthest away from paradise that Owen could imagine. He missed the salted seas, the grit of sand between his toes- he even missed those annoying squawking seagulls that stole his food right out of his hands as he lounged on the shore .

Owen had lived his whole life under summer skies. He had even worked up the ranks to be one of the best known surf instructors and competitors amongst his little seaside commmunity.

But Owen, perhaps even more than the beach itself, loved his husband.

His husband, the placid ocean on a windless day, steady and calm. His husband who he had sacrificed every remaining day of sunny skies for indefinitely to move halfway across the world for.

“Owen, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I’m going to have to reschedule those dinner plans. Harris wants the proposal done by 12pm tonight”, Eric announces, as he plugs his laptop into the wall behind the couch. He is purposely avoiding Owens gaze, focussing on a menial task to distract from the giant bomb he’s just dropped.

Owens eyes, already sweltering with angry tears, wander to the window. The blinds are peeled back, revealing a purple bruised sky and whipping winds.

It’s going to storm tonight, he thinks.

“We’ve had this reservation for months now, Ric, if we drop it there’s no guarantee we’ll even get back in”, Owen counters. He places his mug down hard on the granite table top. The dark liquid sloshes over the edge, small droplets splattering on new island. Eric, probably thinking about the hundreds of times he warned Owen of the importance of coasters, zeros his gaze on the mess.

“Owen, it’s just sushi. There’s tons of other great places we can go to inste-“

But whatever sad explanation Eric was going to give to patch over his wrongdoings is halted, the ringing phone in his pocket offering an easy escape. Eric shoots Owen one last sheepish glance and digs in his pocket to retrieve the device.

As he turns around, voice already raised in that professional manner he likes to adapt, Owen shakes his head.

Owens throat squeezes, the force of holding back his emotions causing him physical discomfort as it always seems to do. The feeling was foreign to him once before, once when the worst problem he had to deal with was getting burnt by the too-hot sun.

He’s forgotten our anniversary, Owen thinks, just as the first ring of thunder tremors outside. A fork of dazzling silver light showers across the windowpanes, casting the living room in blanched blue- grey light.

The lights on the ceiling, as well as the whirring coffee pot suddenly give out. The house is now bathed in dark silence.

In the other room Owen hears Eric swear, the sudden loss of power an inconvenience to what was suppose to be a productive evening of work.

Rain pounds on the cobblestone driveway, the heavy droplets like gunshots in the eerie quietness.

But all Owen can think is that he’s forgotten, he’s forgotten our anniversary.

Are 13th anniversary was on a very gloomy day. We had been having regular arguments lately but you know it was still a dream having him in my life. I love him but you know sometimes I hate his guts. You know things have been hard lately we both have been working late nights and pushing ourselves to do our best and satisfy everyone’s needs. I know our son doesn’t like seeing us fight all the time but we can’t help it you know. Anyways tonight we are going out for a fancy dinner and I’m kinda nervous to. I mean we have been at each other’s thoughts so often lately I don’t know if you know I can I joy it anymore. All right I have to go now for our date talk to you later.

This anniversary I dread as I step towards the beautiful stone that declares that wonderful name. The rain turns my flowing dress a darker pink. Almost red like my veins still are. I look upon him as he looks down at me. I smile. “I love you”, I tell him, he doesn’t say it back but I know he wants to. I give him fresh yellow flowers. Like the sun he is to me. I know he loves them yet still he does not speak. “I have the most amazing day planned. I’ll spend it all with you.” I want to never leave your side until the clock strikes two. The rain soon begins to stop, I’m so much happier now. I remember the first time I saw his stunning bright blue eyes, they are just as lovely as the sky appears above us. I wish that he could see this day, yet he’s as cold as the breeze.

I stare at his grave. “It’s our anniversary”, I say. As tears now blur my eyes…

A sunny couple In a cloudy room From Grey dousing herself in her new perfume A gift from her wife Like rain in the spring Like mist in the night It covers everything A rain drop on her cheek Reminiscing About the years together Years of kissing The years have grown colder Their hair became snow But on their sixtieth year together Edna wants Grey to know That it’s them till the end They’ll see this storm through “My darling Grey your sunshine, it lights up my room”

Every year on May 22nd, my husband and I share an anniversary. It’s not our wedding anniversary, that is on May 24th but certainly tested the strength of our marriage.

It was May 22nd, 2011 and my husband and I and our 2 boys had just gotten home from Kansas City where we spent the weekend so that the realtor could do an Open House while we were gone. It had already been an incredibly long day. We had visited a church our friends attended before we headed back to Joplin. It was just one of those days where we kind of felt like we wished we hadn’t made plans to catch some time with friends because we were just tired and ready to be home. When the offering tray came around I felt very strongly to grab the five dollar bill I had in purse and put it in the offering plate. As soon as I surrendered the cash I immediately felt a calm. I could hear in my mind God telling me that everything was going to work out. This is unusual for me. I have felt and heard the voice of God since I was a little girl. I don’t pretend to be overly enlightened in any way but He quickly became a friend of mine that I have always felt by my side. I don’t know much about theology but I do know Him. I whispered to my husband “I just really feel like God is telling us to quit worrying about selling the house, that He had it all in HIs hands.”

After the sermon, my husband had an incredible headache, he couldn’t even sit through lunch and rested in the car, trying to prepare himself for driving us home. I think I actually ended up doing most of the driving for awhile but we did get home. It seems to take so much longer than normal. What should have been no more than a two hour drive took us close to three. Traveling with two toddler boys never helps on the road either. As we pulled in the driveway I took the time to post of Facebook “Home Sweet Home”. I can’t remember a time in my life where I had ever been happier to be back to my little home. A home that we were about to outgrow and a home that grew us. This home was practically thrown at our feet, it felt like even then there was no way we could have put together a plan like God had. I mean what are the chances your best friend starts dating a realtor and then two weeks later we are looking at a repossession that was everything we needed, everything we would have been looking for if we had even been looking and somehow we purchased that home for less than $70,000. We had spent about seven years paying down that tiny mortgage by this date. We had made it into the perfect little cottage and were a little grieved that it was time to sell it. We had another baby boy on the way and it was time.

Dad and the boys settled in and I ran across town to grab the pager at 5:00 p.m. I had only been home for less than 30 minutes and as soon as I got the pager I was started to get calls about the weather. What did they need to do if the storm got bad? I didn’t even know a storm was on the way. I told them to just follow their safety plans but that everything should be fine and to let me know if they needed anything. I stopped at the grocery store to get a coffee and then headed back to the house. My husband called and asked me to park in the garage, he had been watching the news and was concerned the car might get damaged outside. I told him I was just down the street and almost home. I parked in the garage like he had asked and when I got into the living room her was intently watching the weather every few minutes going out to the front porch to see what was going on with the clouds. I remember watching the news and it was like the we were seeing something different than what the reporters were reporting. They were talking like there wasn’t much to worry about but we could see transformers blowing and catching on fire on the screen in an area that was less than a mile West of us. I told my husband I didn’t feel right and was going to take the boys to the bathroom. He threw a large blanket over the two boys and I as soon as we secured a spot of the floor by the tub. He closed the door. I heard loud wind and couldn’t understand why my husband wasn’t in there with us. I heard a window crash and then my husband opened the bathroom door and jump on top of us holding us down saying “It’s going to be okay, It’s going to be okay.” I could feel debris falling down on us

I was under the blanket with my boys who were scared and crying and holding on tight to me as I prayed “It’s ok God, I trust you God, Do whatever you have to do. I trust you, I trust you.” And then the wind stopped.

My husband told me to stay where I was while he went to see what was going on. He said it was still standing and should be safe for a few minutes but he was worried about the older woman and single mom across the street. He went to go check on them and came right back to us. He said the older woman’s house didn’t get much damage and we should go over there and get the boys warmed up she was getting some towels ready. I opened the bathroom for and I could see pieces of my life scattered about with twigs and leaves and isolation on the floor. I walked around the corner to the dining room and the entire roof had moved from over it and I could look up and see open sky just a chandelier hanging on open joists. The drywall the covered the ceiling and was now what we had to walk on to get out of the house. We continued to move toward the front door. My oldest boy had taken off his shoes and I could not see them out in sight so I carried him across the street. My husband continued to go check on neighbors. My pager was going off like crazy and every time I tried to call out on my cell phone the call would drop -I couldn’t get through to anyone and I was so worried that people needed me and I couldn’t get to them. My husband and the older woman’s grandson went over to the house and ripped off the garage and we waited in her front yard looking across the street hoping he could get a car out of that garage so we could go somewhere safe. I truck started driving down the street and stopped in between us and the house. I waved at them hoping they were they to help but instead they got their phones out and started taking pictures of my house, my home. As I stood there 7 months pregnant with a toddler on each hip they were taking pictures of the home I could not got back to and it enraged me.

“STOP TAKING PICTURES OF MY HOUSE!!!! STOP TAKING PICTURES OF MY HOUSE!!!!”

They looked at us and then fled the scene. I couldn’t imagine how someone could be so careless and callous when it was so obvious what was going on. As we stood there we started to smell gas and knew we had better get out of there before things started exploding. We knew the older woman could leave safely with her grandson, gave hugs and made sure to exchange numbers and we headed to the church in a car without carseats because we weren’t able to get that vehicle out of the garage and buckled everyone in as good as we could. We had taken a back way to the church so in our minds we thought that this was just something that affected our neighborhood but as we watched the news we realized that this storm had taken out a large section of our town right across the heart of it. It had taken a straight line east and stayed on the ground for over two miles. I finally got a hold of my boss and told him what had happened and that I was just going to have to take the pager and drop it at the office while I figured out what we were going to do. He said that everyone was already trying to get ahold of their houses and check on their employees and consumers out in the field and was just glad I was not hurt. My husband and I ran down the street from the church while the kids played with their friends to drop off the pager. When we returned other people started arriving. My Mother-in-Law had made it town and found us at the church she told us she had tried to get to us from so many different directions and wasn’t sure if she was going to get through but she did. She found her Grand-Babies and gave them big hugs, I could see tears in her eyes as she held them. A little while later my some of our best friends came through the door and looked a little shocked, when I realized where they had just come from we looked at each other with a shared experience, one that could have had so many outcomes but there we all were standing there alive.

I grabbed my friend and gave her a big hug and we trembled and cried a bit as we realized just how afraid we had been. It was an embrace where no words were exchanged but everything you meant to say was there. How you were so glad you weren’t going to have to attend their funeral, how you were so sorry for not investing more time in this relationship, how you thanked God for His protection and how much you sincerely loved one another and needed one another and at the same time felt guilty that it took something like this to realize it.

From that moment on we started a journey of faith that oped up doors we could have never opened on our own, that removed debts and canceled contracts we didn’t know how to get rid of and with one storm our God did that for us. One thing I will never forget it right after we had gotten in the car to head to the church my oldest son said “Mommy the TV was smashed…that’s ok God will get us a new one!”

I smiled with tears running down my face “That’s right baby, He will take care of us!”

He did take care of us. He so faithfully took care of us in such a monumental way and now every year, two days before our actual wedding anniversary we celebrate what we learned in that storm. We celebrate that even on our best days our plans seem so small when we put them in God’s hands. We celebrate another year of knowing where our strength comes from and how it continues to come from our faith today. We celebrate because we know this marriage is built of monuments of stone. Built on a great foundation that doesn’t get destroyed in the storms of life but grows through them.

Hurricane force winds And an arctic front Propagated between spouses Precipitated by a shower of tears

Year after year Atmospheric conditions worsen Nor’easter storms batter them both Not to be blamed on El Niño

Impervious to the wind chill Vortex swirls engulf them Eruptions of tornadic destruction Rain upon them in a cyclical pattern

Storm surge passed, a calm returns as the sun rises Anew Replaced with a warm front You never saw coming on the radar

It’s October 18 our special anniversary We need to make sure it’s not cursory The day outside looks very dreary It should be our best one yet dearie It’s almost as gloomy as the day we wed The sunset is eerily a crimson red How lovely the weather is to make our day special We have to make sure theres enough blood in the vessel I want this day to be as creepy as you I can’t wait to show you my love is true With the help of the lightening sky We can travel as bats and just fly Tonight will be our special spooky night It will surely be a wicked fright