She made me mix tapes when we were twelve years old.  When I had a boyfriend I was sure I would love forever, the songs on the tapes were along the lines of Paula Abdul’s Forever Your Girl.  She dubbed her voice in between the songs and chatted away about life as a junior higher.  If I was feeling down, she gave me all the reasons why life wasn’t all that bad.

Fast forward more than half my lifetime and she’s still here.  No more mix tapes these days but plenty of love shared and every day together is a memory made that we won’t forget.  Its $30+ in gas to get to each other these days.  Its packed cars and occasional bickering along the way.  Its extra laundry and extra laughter and loads of extra fun.  Its eleven children that span 10 years when we gather our two clans.

There is something sacred about sharing this journey of saying yes to life with someone else.  It isn’t exactly status quo and it sure is a gift understanding and being understood along the way.

There is always a set of babies
(note the jellybean drool Finn is sharing with baby Henry)

And there is always someone to battle with…

And with boys outnumbering girls 9 to 2, it should be no surprise that I found this as we were saying goodbye…