Dear Jason,
They say love is an uphill climb.
If fourteen years has taught us anything, it means choosing to climb that hill, together. Whatever it takes, with all it takes.
That's how we ended up on that bench, with the most rewarding view.
But getting to that seat was no easy feat.
Despite the clearest of skies and some of the most scenic views of the L.A. skyline, we let our differences and disappointments create distance and division with each step up that hill.
A small matter at the foot of the hill turned into a massive snowball of unresolved emotions by the time we were halfway up, and the gap between us had grown tenfold.
That's when we spotted that bench.
We stopped to sit down, maintaining the gap between us.
Sitting in silence, tension at its thickest, we heard a voice from behind us ask, "Would you like a picture?"
I'll never know if it was because of the constant cursing and bickering he heard beneath our breath, on the way up.
I'll never know if it was because of the tears of frustration he saw behind my sunglasses.
I'll never know if it was because of the animosity he felt between us.
Or if it was simply because he saw something worth capturing.
But I'm grateful he was there to break the silence and bring down our walls.
He'll never know his kind gesture helped us to finally lower our fists.
He'll never know his perspective helped open our eyes to see the beauty we were blind to.
He'll never know his heart helped open ours to close that gap between us.
All it took was the right bench, at the right spot to give us a reason to stop and find rest.
All it took was the right person, at the right time to allow us to let go of every wrong.
All it took was one view of the vast skyline to turn a snowball into a speck.
And all it took was this one photo (that I'll cherish forever) to see the eternal picture.
Happy Fourteen.
We're here by the Grace of our Father and the people He has placed on our climb.
Looking back at the base of what we would soon realize was our mountain, we had no idea what it took to have and to hold through thick and thin, for better and especially for worse.
Fourteen years and 3 munchkins later, we're learning step by step what it takes to build our marriage, while raising our children.
It's no easy feat, but through Him, we'll continue to do whatever it takes, with all it takes because it has brought us to so many places — ultimately bringing us to the best place. Right where we are.
Through the years of tears and joy, the love between us has grown five, ten, fourteen-fold. At the end of the day when all is said and done, I'll choose to love you for fourteen, twenty, forty more — remembering to stop for bench breaks with you along the way.
With all it takes, whatever it takes.
J
