Cherishing Each Anniversary Milestone
As our 4th year wedding anniversary approaches in the next six months, which is August 22nd, I’m amazed at how swiftly the years have flown by since my husband and I officially tied the knot. Though we’d already been together for several years before getting married, having that beautiful summer ceremony in 2020 to commemorate our commitment kicked off an exciting new chapter.
While the early newlywed stage sparked plenty of magic as we settled into married life together, this settled partnership we’ve grown into years later brings its own comforts. Navigating life’s unpredictable ups and downs side-by-side has only strengthened our bond through trust built over time.
Rather than exhaustive vacation plans or elaborate date nights, nowadays we prefer celebrating our 4th year anniversary simply by taking time to cook a nice meal together, reflect on fond memories, and reconnect about hopes for our relationship’s next phase. Truthfully, having hectic jobs and young kids now doesn’t allow for lavish celebrations much anyway.
But fleeting excitement of party planning mattered more to me as a wide-eyed bride than it does now. These days I cherish the symbolic significance of reaching another year milestone together far more than orchestrating some picture-perfect event full of fanfare.
While Anniversaries in those first few newlywed years felt weightier, I now better understand marrying my best friend was never about just one magical day. Rather, it was about consciously choosing everyday after good times and bad to walk side-by-side as lovers and teammates.
Our early years were filled with the blissful thrill of building a life together from scratch embarking on many dates, decorating our first tiny apartment, staying up all night passionately envisioning bold dreams and schemes over drinks and movies
We felt buoyed in our new roles as husband and wife, encouraged by the world’s excitement and support, proudly wearing our shiny commitment as a badge of honor after finding each other at last. We even noticed strangers treated us with extra kindness and respect simply knowing we’d just said “I do.”
But years later, the music has stopped, the decorations are packed away and most friends don’t even remember our exact anniversary date anymore...let alone check in to see how that newlywed high is holding up.
The weight of truly choosing one another rely fully on us now without any fanfare. And somedays loving each other through life’s unglamorous stresses frankly feels far less euphoric than those candy-coated early years together.
Yet having now weathered family deaths, job uncertainties, health issues and other heavy life storms as a team offers incomparable bonding. I trust my husband with my life not just my heart these days. We wear the rich fabric of history side-by-side nothing can replicate.
So while toasting with champagne flutes engraved with our names feels quintessential of glowing newlyweds out to conquer the word together, mugs of sleepy late-night tea shared after long days still reassures me we’ll be okay when times get tough. No less love flows between us simply for shifting forms.
Perhaps I don’t scribble steamy love notes these days like when we were giddy, starry-eyed newly-weds. But sliding his worn t-shirt over my belly to soothe its ache feels far more intimate now. My head still spins when we embrace slow dancing in the kitchen like nothing’s changed since our reception. Only now, that familiar warmth reminds me I’m home at last to let down my armor fully as I am. I know he’ll meet me there without judgment as life throws its fastballs.
While l still sometimes miss the butterflies of letting initial infatuation intoxicate our bonds those first few years, I wouldn’t trade the unspoken comfort I feel sleeping back-to-back after midnight disagreements for anything. Soul connections deepen over time through weathering life’s storms hand-in-hand not just from passion’s honeymoon period.
So this August 22nd will mark another year down of navigating marriage’s ultimate marathon together. No, we may not party as hard celebrating being 4 years into this crazy ride as we did that exciting first anniversary. But I now see each milestone isn’t about reliving our giddy newlywed status. It’s about honoring layers of history forged and the wide open future still ahead to write together. Cheers to that!
All images used here are mine
