Renewal (Day 26 Road Trip)

On the seventh day they rested. Today we had a quiet day as Joe, and I celebrated our 29^th wedding anniversary. Kent Replogle has agreed to renew our vows for us. We decided to have the ceremony on the back porch of their lovely home in the woods of Huntsville, Alabama at around 6:30pm this evening.

Tammy (Replogle, Kent’s wife and my cousin) made us a lovely caramel and pecan cake as a celebration treat. The sky is overcast today, though no rain is forecast. Twenty-nine years ago, it began raining shortly after our wedding and we scurried around renting tents for the reception held in our backyard. I was happy it rained that day as my father had passed away in 1989 and he had told us before his passing that when it rained, he’d be with us in spirit. The rain on April 23, 1994, was a blessing. My dad would have liked Joe.

I came across a poem this morning, it was published in The New Yorker:

Why I Loved Him

by Camonghne Felix 

I can’t tell you

Why I loved him or

What it meant. When you

Are a child, you know only

The kind of love your little

Life lacked, so every

Blooming flower is a field.

 This poem makes me sad and happy at the same time. Joe is my field. I always wanted to feel cherished, and his actions and words have led to me feeling cherished. In the past 29 years we have had ups and downs, mostly ups; however, our relationship has been steadfast. The ups and downs were not in our relationship – only in ordinary everyday struggles everyone experiences. Through the times we have felt bereft or devastated by life events, Joe was always steadfast in expressing his respect and love for me.

 On occasion, over the years, I have asked Joe if he wants to get married and he always says yes. Today he is going to marry me again. We are renewing our vows. Today, those words mean so much more than they did to me 29 years ago. Twenty-nine years ago, we were going into this marriage with high hopes. We had known each other for about 5 years before our marriage. We were friends at first. Then we dated and married. Our friendship is 34 years strong, and our love is 30 years stronger. I am looking forward to growing older together.

Today is a day of renewal - just as our road trip is a time of renewal for us as we make our way across the country visiting family and friends.