Nine Years of Marriage

Yesterday was our 9th Anniversary! How time flies! I truly could not have asked for a better day. So many wonderful people and memories! It seems back then that photography was not near what it is today. It makes me sad to think of the pictures we could have had. They are in my heart though. I remember in my bouquet I had 14 white lilies in honor of the 14 wounds St. Maria Goretti received while defending her purity. Funny how you forget those little things. I will never forget the reception and seeing over 700 people crammed into a room. Thank you for coming to our wedding. You will never know what it meant to us. My brother Andrew bought my wedding dress. We had a wonderful day together. I will never forget him for doing that for me. He made the day and preparation so special.

I will never forget John's smile when I walked down the aisle. It was electrifying. We hadn't seen each other yet and it was well worth the wait. I remember thinking how handsome he looked and I loved his haircut.


At that time in our lives, we both felt strongly to offer our marriage for the priesthood. Before our wedding, we had a Eucharistic Holy Hour praying for all vocations specifically the priesthood. We had invited several priest friends to come, but didn't know who would be there. I remember praying that many priests would be there. When I walked down the aisle, the entire sanctuary was filled with priests...23 to be exact and 4 deacons. It was like heaven. They were all in white and smiling so grand at us! Thank you, Lord for this special gift. I will never forget them for coming. I wish our pictures truly depicted how beautiful this sight was. The first picture below gives a small glimpse of what the priestly altar looked like. Someone told me later on that when the priests were processing in before mass, one of the neighbors near the church asked if it was an ordination. That made me smile.
I am one of ten children and John is one of 8 children. We had all our siblings in the wedding plus a few additions so the altar was truly a grand depiction of life.



I remember telling John that day that I hope by our 10th Anniversary we would have 10 children. Yesterday, it occurred to me that we've been married for 9 years and have 9 children (six on this earth and three in heaven.) What a blessing!

I am still so grateful for this beautiful day and for the opportunity I had been given to marry this most wonderful person. I knew he was wonderful, but little did I know how wonderful. The thing I love about John the most is his perpetual happiness and positiveness and his mastery at sacrificing joyfully. He almost tricks me every time that he actually enjoys doing the dirty work. I always realize later that he was probably offering it up and not really enjoying cleaning up throw up although he was probably singing some crazy tune and making all the kids laugh at the same time. I am honored to know this person!