I saw them standing there pretending to be JUST FRIENDS, when all the time in the world couldn't seperate them.

I need to appologize for taking a week's hiatus. It won't happen again...for a while at least. I have a lot to tell you about. Cake. Engagement photos. Save The Dates, Meeting with Bean and Cindy. Lot's of good things happening lately. But, I have to be reflective today. I would say, actually, that I am reflective on most days. (Why would I start a blog if I wasn't?)

Today is different. Today marks the end of something moumental. 7 years ago I met my Aaron. And today he packs his office up, and moves onto the next great adventure. Somewhere not within yelling distance from me. Somewhere with a different zip code than me. Somewhere with a different license plate than me. Somewhere I am not going. And maybe it hit today. Even though I knew this was coming for months. But, you have to understand....we haven't always lived together in the same close proximity. There was about a year and a half when we weren't close at all. But since June 2007, this has been our life:

We have been co-dependant at times. We have been frustrated at times. We have been stupid at times. We have been sad a times. We have been happy...maainly happy. Aaron and I found out what love was together. We traveled across country in a car together. And it was pure bliss. We explored Decatur. We spent nights doing absolutely nothing. I have been mistaken as Aaron's wife. TOO MANY TIMES. Aaron maybe the only one who knows how to deal with my pissy moods. And I have them. More than I admit. And even though I get so mad at him, he is really a patient man. :)

I would never have come to Decatur to work at MU if it wasn't for this man. I look back in my journal from a few years ago, and I see something I wrote about a particular day togethr:
"Aaron and I spent the day together at the pool today. It was the perfect summer heat. The trees were buzzing with bugs and sun light. Everything was heavy. I worshiped the sun by the pool and we just sat all day and got in and out of the water. As we left to drive home a few hours later, we coasted through Fairview park with the windows down, radio low, and sun beating in the window. The breeze was enough. And as we just sat, I thought: For the rest of my life, when I am old and the days are slower, I will look back and remember this moment with him and think - We spent the best days of our lives in Decatur. Growing and loving and learning how to be human together."

And as I finally come to terms with my Aaron packing up and leaving today, I will always be thankful for the chords that connect us to one another.
I would not have met my love had it not been for this man traveling to MU a year before. He paved a way for me to find the huge pieces of my life.
And I don't remember what it is like to live without seeing him daily, but it's just the next great thing for us.

mmp