going on...and on

we just got back from a celebration. as a couple with children it is not easy to attend very many celebrations...ones that are for adults only...we can no longer accept that phone call with the request of going to a movie or getting together to play cards (although no one here really plays cards like they do in Michigan...i miss that). in order to attend this celebration we had to email for a babysitter weeks in advance. we have one high school gal who has been pretty good about coming to watch the kids. she's 17 which is nice because it means she drives here. anyway, she said she could do it but then a few days later said that she couldn't because she was working with the jr. high youth group.
but.
she has a sister who babysits as well.
look.
beggars can't be choosers and i didn't ask any questions.
yes.
we'd take the sister.
the sister is 15. this is true family commitment on their part because the mom said she would pick her up and drop her off. but i 'm rambling...this isn't about the babysitter. this is about the celebration. (the baby sitter was great. she managed both the kids and the dog...and emptied the dishwasher...no i will not share her number...she's mine...)
the celebration.
we were getting together because some friends of ours have been married for 10 year.
TEN YEARS. it's a long time people and worthy of a party. trey and i are coming up on our 9 year in May. i really think we've been lucky. some of our married friends have been through some horrible experiences. some have divorced. it's been rough...marriage...not the party.
towards the end of the evening we all sat together in the living room and toasted the couple. various people said various kind and/or encouraging and/or sentimental things about them. it was very touching.
i sat on the couch and looked around the room at the gathering. i really didn't know many people but would count myself as a good friend to the couple. this got me thinking about how we all know each other in part. no one really knows all the sides of us.
many of the friends gathered were in or at their wedding. the walks down memory lane were entertaining to hear. some of the friends lived with the couple at one point or the other, some just knew them from social events throughout college. i met them on a tour with Velour100. we met again when they moved back to Seattle. i worked with the gal for a while and we became very fast friends.
we had struggled through some of the same issues with motherhood. it was refreshing to have a real ear to talk to about the things i did not enjoy about being a mom. she did not judge me. she agreed with me and supported me and made me feel normal.
we've had our ups and downs in this relationship. it has not all been a meeting of the collective mothering minds but we have found our way back to one another. this friendship, like a marriage has been a choice. there was time when we could have walked away from each other but we chose to fight our way through some uncomfortable conversations and uncomfortable silences.
i enjoyed being counted among the many friends this couple has. i enjoyed hearing stories of their youth and folly. i will continue to enjoy their friendship.
being married is not an easy task and this couple does not pretend that it is. they have been a source of comfort for other couples and a source of encouragement for their single friends.
here's to another 10 years and another and another.