This past weekend we headed to Snoqualmie Falls for a hike down to the falls.  We haven’t been there in ages.  Back in our high school days we went there often, hiking, sitting, snuggling, just taking in the beauty of the place.  We went a few years ago before kids probably.  We’d forgotten how steep the trail is down to the bottom.  We used to traipse down it blissfully hand in hand in no time at all.  It was a place where in June of 1997 as we sat on some rocks and watched the water, Christopher started into a speech about his undying love for me.  As he talked I realized it was ‘the’ talk and I forgot most of what he said.  I was just waiting for the moment I could tell was coming.  I’d waited a long time, early in our dating, I knew he was the one.  But we dated 4 years because we were so young.  The look on my face gives a good indication of what I felt in the moment:

I was beyond thrilled to have that ring on my finger, I was hopelessly smitten.  It was exactly the ring I’d dreamed of, simple and timeless and very sparkly.  He’d done his research.  It was the perfect gift.

Aside from his pledge to love me forever, the gifts that came a few year later are the most treasured ones I’ve ever received:

It was incredibly nostalgic for me to be in the place where we shared sweet moments together 12 even 13 years ago and to have our children with us.  So much has changed and some things feel the same.  We’ve weathered more than I dreamed possible.  The love we share has grown deep roots as it has been tossed about by life.  The old adage about love growing over time seemed strange to me, like it was impossible to love him more than the day we married.

But I am starting to understand it now…

…and I do.