This image is from a recent wedding where Nelli and I took a boat to the event on an island.
Today is our 17th anniversary. Nelli and I have been together for over half of our lives. I’m not one to typically project social media PDA, but I’ll make an exception. We’ve been through so much together, even just in the last year, that today feels special. Our life together has been a great big adventure filled with the unpredictable, chaotic and the beautiful. As two kids from small towns in Montana, we never would have dreamed of seeing the places we’ve seen together.
This week Nelli happened to meet a girl whom she used to babysit as an infant when Nelli worked at a Day Care. When we first started dating, that was Nelli’s job. I remember how much she loved those kids and how she was a mother to so many of them. Coming from a broken family, I think she was a mother to me in the early stages of our relationship as well. She would take care of my laundry, pick my clothes out and make sure I was eating enough. Now, 17 years later, I see her doing this everyday for our seven children. The kids all lean on her so heavily that sometimes I wonder how she does it.
We are about to have our 8th and final child. It seems crazy sometimes, I can’t imagine a life with anyone else. The last year has been one of our most challenging. We moved away from our established home and our established business. We gathered all our belongings is a trailer and drove 2,000 miles to the place we always wanted to raise our family. We took on a major fixer upper. We started new businesses together. We said we couldn’t work well together. We said “We do best when we work together”. We were surprised by another pregnancy. She had a cancer diagnosis.
Sometimes in the midst of these huge changes it has felt overwhelming. Parenting our children felt like a full-time job in itself. We’ve wondered if and how things were going to work out. We’ve had moments where we felt distant from each other. We sought counseling both together and individually. We tried doing separate projects and creating space. I hope this post reaches someone who needs to be reminded that when you are going through hard times, things do get better. Love can be sparked suddenly and grow quickly, even when you don’t expect it.
We’ve now celebrated 17 anniversary dates. We’ve photographed a wedding on our anniversary, and we’ve been to the tip of South America on our anniversary. Today, Nelli will be helping me setup a new photo exhibit for Missoula’s First Friday. I look back and reflect on the years together and feel so grateful that God put this person in my life who would support me in all my dreams. Literally, everything I’ve wanted to attempt, she’s been right there to help me in any way possible. I remember 10 years ago, when I quit my good paying job, lost my family health insurance and came home to tell her I wanted to start a photography business. She believed in me. Every time she says to me “You can do it.” I know she means “We can do it.” She fills in the gaps and see’s my blind spots. Nelli has a deep faith when I’m afraid and trying to take things on my own. I don’t know where I’d be without her. Today as we hang up photos together, I’m filled with thanks and the reality of an aging-type-of-love that only comes from being married to your best friend.
Here is a link to the the best scene from the movie we saw on our first anniversary. It means a little more with with all the history built in.
And one last scene for the extra sappy:)
If you want to see more of what we are up to today, you can visit wjboone.com
