I’ve written books. I’ve traveled the world. But the achievement I’m proudest of is, without a doubt, my twenty-three year relationship with Clyde.
We legally married just over two years ago, surrounded by friends and family in a beautiful ceremony in San Diego, California. But the adventure started twenty-one years earlier, at a little community church in Jackson, MS, when a bookish young minister met a shy, quiet video store owner at “Movie Night.”
So many memories! Our first trip to Atlanta together, just two weeks after meeting … four months dating, with each of us driving up and down the dangerous Natchez Trace more times than we could count … the decision in November to move in with Clyde …
… that trip down the river with Wayne and Dan … the joy of being embraced by Clyde’s family … our struggles with loved ones who needed time to understand our love for each other, and the tears of joy each time hearts opened to us … our first trip to Thailand, inspired by the good food and sweet spirits at the Thai House in Jackson …
… the first move to Atlanta … the St. Mark years … being blessed with friends like John and Jeri … the return to Jackson … the release of my first book … the heartbreak of losing Clyde’s mom … the closing of Video Library … the job offer that brought us back to Atlanta … watching nieces and nephews grow up and start their own families … the astounding success of Clyde’s internet business … meeting Randy and Jeff, (and Kay!) … the adventure of helping my Mom move to a new home, closer to her family …
… and, every step of the way, being carried along by the love and support from family and friends who could see the goodness in our being together.
Two cities. Six houses. Six nieces and nephews, all now adults. Fourteen books and card decks created. Fifteen trips to Bangkok. Twenty-three Fourths of July at Darden Lake. Twenty-three Christmases together. More friends than we can name here. Countless precious memories …
… one great love.
Some spend years looking for the love of their life. Others never find it. How crazy and amazing and strange and wonderful that, against all odds, I stumbled on the one person on the planet who would make me complete. I don’t understand why I was given this gift, and I never feel worthy of it, but I am grateful for it, every day.
My faith has changed dramatically over the years, and, at the ripe old age of fifty, I am more aware than ever of the many things I do not know. But one thing is and always has been constant and good and true in my life: my love for Clyde, and his love for me.
Everything good in these last twenty-three years is rooted in that love.
Happy anniversary, Monkey Boy.
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