A Friend

Day Thirty - Well, today is the last day of June and the last day of my photo challenge. It has been fun. This photo is a favorite for me this month. I think it may be my favorite because this is my favorite person. He told me this morning as I was taking the picture that he didn't want to be in my blog. I told him he didn't have a choice. He's my best friend and the person that I wanted to capture. He really is an incredible guy. I can say that cause it's true and I know that he'll never read this and won't know that I'm all gushy and stuff. He often knows what I need before I do. He calls me on things that I need to be called on. He encourages me when I'm down. He says, "I got you" when I'm sad. He has seen me cry more than any other person in the whole world. He has made me laugh until the tears stream down my face and I can't breathe. He doesn't give up on me. He cares about me and he practices really hard to be the friend that I need. I am so thankful for my friend, Jeremy. He is my lifetime friend.

Husbands

Seven years ago today, I got married to Jeremy. It was a beautiful day that we talk about often. Time has marched on and here we are seven years into this thing called marriage. We started as a family of two that day and now it has grown to four. I thought I really loved Jer when I married him, but I know now that the love I had for him then was very small and untested. I think about people that have been married for thirty years plus and what love must be like at that point, after living so much more of life together.

Marriage is interesting. It is not really what I thought it was in my naive teenage years. I imagined that we would have hours of uninterrupted time together...ha! I imagined going for walks together at the end of the day. I imagined love letters and flowers and all that other stuff that I thought was romance. I now think that romance is stolen kisses with kids hanging off our legs. Romance is is sitting on our deck as the sun goes down, not saying much of anything, just being together in the same place. Romance is a hug when the day starts and a kiss goodnight. Romance is belly laughing at each other. Romance is crying in each other's arms. Romance is talking through life's ups and downs and celebrating that we continue on the journey...together. I am glad that I have been surprised by what marriage is really like. I am happy that it is different and so much more than what I thought it was.

Husbands are interesting too. I had room mates a couple time during my single life, but I have to say that having a room mate is not the same thing as having a husband. Room mates do not have the same expectations as a spouse. You don't have the same kind of time and love invested in that kind of co-habitation either. I have seen every side (maybe not quite every side) of my husband, Jer; the good, the bad, the ugly, the selfish, the angry, the gentle, the compassionate, the heartbroken, the sweet, the harsh, the lovable, the servant, the generous, the taker, the father, the friend, the son, the brother, the idiot, the genius, the creative, the destructive, the playful, the work-aholic, the lover, the artist, the musician, the builder, the brooder, the depressed, the joyful, the hungry, the grumpy, the hilarious, the actor, the studious, the amazing, the driven, the thoughtful, the thoughtless, the kind, the romantic, an the absolutely most disgusting. And I love him, with a bigger love than I thought my heart could hold. The crazy part is that he has seen all of my sides and he loves me back. The wonder of it all!!??

I am so honored that I get to spend the rest of my life learning what it means to love every side of Jeremy Seatter. It's hard, it's wonderful, it's complex, it's painful, it requires more than what I am capable of at times, but it's worth it. I get to learn about love by loving.

Running

I am not a runner. I guess you could say that I am not a fan. I would rather run after a soccer ball for hours than run down a road. I think another part of my distaste might be that the only time that I could possibly go for a run without children would be at 5:30 in the morning!! I don't see that happening anytime soon. My husband, on the other hand, loves to run. But he also has a pretty major glitch when it comes to actually doing it. It is physically painful to him.

Jeremy lost his right leg to cancer when he was seventeen years old. Running since then has been something that he has longed to do. I remember him telling me that one of the last things he did with two legs was to go for a run. I can't imagine wanting to do something so badly and feeling nothing but pain if I tried to do it. Something that I take for granted and don't even want to do, he would enjoy so much. I think about Terry Fox often and about how every step he took in his journey must have been agony. Every step jarring and bruising because the prosthetic leg that he wore was never meant for running.

This morning I received a phone call from Jeremy's prosthetist telling us that War Amps has approved funding for a running leg for Jeremy. I almost dropped the phone! The running leg is worth thousands of dollars! This is a dream, one that seemed impossible this side of heaven, coming true. Jeremy will get to run, like the wind, again...with freedom and without pain. I am in awe of this gift.

I am glad that I can still feel awe and wonder. I know that as I watch Jeremy disappear down the road, running his little heart out, I will be feeling these things every time. It might even inspire me to join him, even in the middle of the night!!