A decade of Daniel

Last night after I clicked submit on my Compassionate disciplinarian blog post I was legged out beside Baby D on our floor mattress, absently monitoring the number of peeps who were checking in to read my ramblings, when Daddy suddenly appeared in the bedroom doorway with his arms laden with goodies.

I'd been a bit down in the dumps earlier on, so I thought this generous gesture was simply a way to lift my spirits. Not so the case! There was a deeper, more profound motivation.

"I may be a day or so off - but I thought this was a good opportunity..." he said. "It was ten years ago that we met...."

He shyly  handed me a glass of red wine, a bowlful of chocolate ice-cream and a bunch of red roses. I just looked at him stunned for a second before I started bawling. He was pretty choked up too.

I had no idea. I'm not even kidding. It could have been 12 years or 9 years or any other number. How awful is that? And to be so incredibly uncliche! Isn't it supposed to be the man's job to forget anniversaries? I only hope his remembering isn't a testament to the fact that he's counting each day that goes by like a prisoner scratches off the days on his cell wall.

The last few years since our Sawyer came along (and then Lennox and then Dagny) have flown by so quickly for me I hadn't given our time together a second thought - other than to note we'd made it passed the 7 years married marker last September!!!

Ten years - a DECADE with Daniel! I can't fathom where the time has gone since we first cast eyes on each other in that little music bar in Quito, Ecuador.

Ten years since we sat side side by side with our legs dangling off the back of a boat watching flourescent plankton light up the Galapagos night sky, and sea lions pop up in the wake.

Ten years since I abandoned my travel plans and threw all caution to the wind - accompanying him on a rickety bus, blaring out techno-cumbia tunes all the way to his apartment in Quito.

Has it really been TEN years since I fell totally and absolutely in love with the man I wanted to raise a family with - and the man I wanted to grow old with?

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Slow down Father Time. Please slow down. Ten more decades of Daniel couldn't ever be enough.