Fourteen Years and Counting...

Today, December 22, 2008, marks my fourteenth wedding anniversary. It was the first of two weddings. Yes, I’ve been married twice—to the same woman and never divorced. The private legal wedding was December 22, 1994; the public church wedding was on June 10, 1995. No, it wasn’t a “Luger” wedding (my German father-in-law doesn’t even own a gun). We were legally married six months early so Steph’s immigrant visa would be ready by our planned wedding date in June. It didn’t work. Needless to say, I now have two wedding anniversaries to remember.

But today I remember one of the greatest days of my life. On a cold winter day in the Rathaus of Bad-Lauterberg, Germany . . . before a German official I didn’t understand . . . in a language I hadn’t yet mastered, Stephanie Sandra Schröder said “Ja” and became Stephanie Sandra Svigel. Poor thing. And to think she could actually read and understand the German document she was signing!

I certainly got the better deal. Stephanie married a student and for thirteen of the last fourteen years she was still married to a student. Through it all, she's been a faithful wife, mother, nurse, and best friend . . . and complained far less than she should have. She’s more than I deserve and not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for her “Ja.”

Whether she has any regrets or not, she’s now stuck with me. Because one thing’s for sure—I’m not letting her go.

I love you, Schatz, and can’t wait for the next fourteen years.