Stories To Tell: Part XIII

Saving The Best For Last

The last few weeks have been hectic with a much needed vacation and returning to work to kick off the new year with wonderful new ministries and a brand new Head of Staff.  These things, combined with some unexpected events has meant putting off my final summer story installment until after Labor Day.  I hope you've enjoyed these little windows into my life. As promised,  I've saved the best for last.  

When people ask me where I met my husband I tell them, "I met him at Hollins." Then they ask if he attended school there and I get to remind them that Hollins is a women's university. The truth is that Michael was living in Roanoke, not far from where we live now and he grew up with some of my hall mates.  He would come over and hang out with friends and that is how we met.  This is the boiled down version--lots of stuff happened in between. We began dating the summer between my first and sophomore years and we have been together ever since.  I think that Michael probably has almost as much nostalgia about Hollins as I do.  He spent weekends hanging out on campus, he fought against dressing up for formals, he made sure we were all safe at parties. He was the first Hollins Husband!  

I love Michael for his big heart.  He can have a temper.  He can become focused on negative aspects of things. These are not new concepts to me--I am exactly the same way.  But, at the end of the day, most of those emotions flow out of having a caring heart.  He will give the shirt off of his back to someone.  He will do what he can to help friends when they are in need.  He is deeply devoted to his family and protective of me.  He strives to work hard and do his job effectively and efficiently.  He is also a terrific cook, which compliments my lack of skill perfectly.  He is probably the only person that can make me mad and make me laugh in the same breath. 

Michael has been at my side and with family when we have lost loved ones--my grandmothers and my uncle.  He has walked with me and encouraged me through each transition in my life, from college to seminary and finding my first call upon graduation.  Michael grew up a pastor's kid so he understands the pressures of ministry and is sensitive to all of the successes and struggles of pastors.  I tell everyone that for him to be a PK and have married me anyway speaks volumes of his love for me.  He could have cut and run early on!  I am fortunate that Michael respects my job, and his father's job, even if we don't always agree on the theology or the methods of this calling.   Most of the time I am thankful that he continues to ask questions and challenge me to think about my faith! 

Michael and I never lived in the same city until we were married.  For much of our relationship Michael lived in Charlottesville so our weekends were typically spent in one city or the other. Well, except for that semester I spent studying abroad.  Boy, did we run up a phone bill!  After my first year of seminary Michael's lease was up and we had discussed not wanting to ever live with anyone else.  We decided that it was time to do what we had been dreaming about for several years and get married.    We told our parents on April Fool's Day and they didn't believe us.

 We were married in June of 2007 (yes, that is 10 years)!  Our wedding was small with family and close friends there, Michael's dad led the ceremony.  It was HOT!  The funny thing is that we got married in Bedford, outside in the Wharton Memorial Garden, which is next to the library.  Someone, a few months before the wedding drove a car into the gazebo! It had yellow tape around it up until the week of our wedding!  I remember bits a pieces of the day.  My best friends were there to help me get ready--but my hair wouldn't hold a curl for anything. And Michael refused to get a haircut.  I ate leftover steak for breakfast--because what do you eat on your wedding day? I tuned out a lot of the service because Michael's dad was saying really kind and lovely things and I didn't want to cry.  My Aunt Nita made a beautiful tiered cake decorated with star gazer lilies.  My two best friends from college took photos of the wedding.  Michael's friends--and likely his sister--decorated his car with car paint, which he absolutely did NOT want to happen.  And after we left the 'after-party' at my parent's house, my childhood friends rented movies and had a sleepover at Mom and Dad's house.   

We moved from Richmond and our tiny, hot apartment in June of 2010 to Appomattox...into a lovely manse, which solidified the concept of a 'man cave'.   Let me insert here that Michael has moved for our marriage 3 times now.  These have each been difficult in their own right but Michael has always encouraged me to go where I felt we should go.  He always says, we are a team.  And through every rough patch we have experienced, we have circled back to that. 

Adding A Rookie

Few people are aware that we tried for several years to get pregnant before Kemper came along.  We even had a very early miscarriage the summer before I became pregnant with Kemper.  The days following were tough for me.  In fact, it was after we really stopped trying that Kemper came along.  One week night, right in between our birthdays we just had a hunch.  I took three tests before I believed it.  Right before my 30th birthday.  

For a full story of our experience with Kemper's arrival in the world, you can visit the blog I keep for K at Junebugs and Pick Up Trucks.  Let's just say--he came early and not in the way we ever imagined.  Michael was a miracle baby, I was too, and so is Kemper.  A family of preemie miracles.  

When Kemper was born, circumstances caused Michael to be the parent who swaddled, fed, and changed our son for the first days of his life.  Michael would go home from my bedside and watch videos of how to do all the things I thought I would be teaching him how to do.  Michael cared for our tiny bear and nursed me back to health in those days.  

We now tell Kemper that he is part of our team.  Truly, he is the MVP.  I can't imagine our lives without him; he brings so much energy and joy into our lives.  Michael is an excellent father.  I knew that his big ol' heart would make him a great Dad, but I didn't imagine how much I would enjoy looking for parts of him reflected in our son.   

It's not all sunshine and roses around here.  We have hard days and our own share of "first world problems." Laundry piles up and the cats leave trails of cat hair and dusty bunnies in their wake as they beg to be fed.  We have moments where we lose patience with our toddler and each other.  But at the end of the day, if Kemper isn't at home with us, we miss him. Some nights, by the time we get Kemper to bed we are tired, and all we can say before we fall asleep is that we miss each other.  But, we're a team and every day we learn how to be a stronger unit together.