I have to say my thoughts today were very scattered. I am finding it's kind of hard to focus these days as I am adding more and more activities to my daily schedule. I did however discover something interesting that I pondered as I walked today. 

Last night I was trying really hard to go to sleep when I could hear nothing by my husband's voice booming throughout the house. It was full of laughter and I could hear other voices as well. Needless to say given the fact that I wake up between 3:30 and 4:00am every work day, I needed some quiet and wondered into the living room to see what the heck was going on. In my state of being 1/2 asleep I found my husband in front of his computer video chatting with a bunch of guys that I quickly realized were the men he became friends with many years before we met when he was in the Marines. Once I realized who he was chatting with, I tried to say something a little funny then waved hello to all of them (as I was in my pjs and didn't want to stay near the video once I knew it was going). 

Today during my walk it occurred to me that during that brief encounter watching my husband interact with the soldiers he served with so many years ago I had nothing but a great feeling about it. I was thrilled for him that he was able to connect with them and he seemed so happy to be seeing their faces. It reminded me of the things he is always trying to help me understand about the relationships he has built with the soldiers he interacts with. It felt good to have a pure positive feeling about this small moment. It also reminded me that I am now an always have been part of something bigger than myself. Although his military career was stalled when we married, he has always been a proud soldier. 

It made me even more determined to keep going through this process so I can always feel that way in support of these precious relationships he has worked so hard to establish.

We both have so much growing to do in this area but have also both opened ourselves up to work through the process. He even called me today to talk about a fishing trip one of his soldiers wanted him to go on. It may sound funny but I call this progress because up until a few weeks ago I think he would have politely turned down the invitation and not even mentioned it to me.

As it turns out we were able to secure a venue for our renewal on 9/10 and again could not help but think about the significance of our accident in picking the day prior to the anniversary of the date our entire world changed. I think it is inspiring us both to make it the most meaningful celebration of our love and commitment to one another than we had originally discussed when this entire process began. I truly look forward to creating a celebration that embraces the people we were and celebrates the people we have become and how we plan to move forward together in this life.

Lessons learned: Today I would have to say I learned that I can be happy about my husband and his connection to the military. I celebrate that! I also learned that the connection you make with people in life all have meaning. The goal is to learn all you can from even the briefest encounters and consider yourself blessed to be a part of something that is bigger than yourself.