May 30, 2026 - Saturday

16 years ago, I married the man of my dreams. I'd known him for years, but when we were reintroduced, he swept me off of my feet and I had fallen wildly in love with him. At the altar, we exchanged vows, knowing that they were solemn and important, but being too young and inexperienced to really know what they would come to mean. Part of our vows came from 1 Cor. 13:7 - "[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." We had no idea how difficult it would be to keep those vows when we'd both become different people and when our love would have to change and flex to fit the new life we'd be building together. There have been times over the years that I have not had a lot of hope for us and there have been times when we have done the opposite of protecting one another. But we have persevered and our love has done the hard work of growing and changing and flexing to fit the new people that we are 16 years later. I'm thankful that God put us together and that I have a husband who works hard at this relationship and holds those vows dear, just like I do. 

This anniversary did not go as planned. Knowing we were getting home early, we made reservations at my favorite restaurant for dinner tonight. However, the hospital was feeling like Dennis is getting very close to dying and they think it's time to stop nutrition and just put him on palliative care, per Dennis's wishes. Ben decided to go out there today, in case it was his last chance to be with him while he was lucid. Dennis told him he loved him and that he was sorry today. I'm sure that was really emotional for Ben. It's been so hard. This whole thing has just been awful and heartbreaking.