Nine years ago today . . .

I went to the Cook County, GA courthouse to get my marriage license. I had undergone the prerequisite blood testing, which was traumatic enough for this needle-phobe to convince me that I was serious about marriage. :-)

When we arrived at the appropriate office, there was no line, no wait, no other folks at all except the judge and the clerk. After handing over the necessary documents and filling out a few forms, we were about to be on our way. Then, the judge came out and said "ok, are we ready to go?". Yikes! We thought, well, why not? So, off we went into her chambers, so young and nervous, in jeans and shorts! We had no rings other than my engagement ring. We trembled through the minutes-long ceremony, with no witnesses except the clerk. It was so simple . . . and profoundly life-changing.

See, we intended to get married at the courthouse before my husband left for boot camp a few weeks later. We were not going to tell anyone because we were planning an actual wedding for when he came back. The paperwork technicalities just helped us to get our affairs in order with the military for housing purposes, etc. I began planning our Christmas-time wedding, and he toiled through basic training. As we would soon learn, the military has its own schedule. He ended up being held for a few weeks, making our wedding impossible as one cannot have a wedding without a groom! I was tasked with letting everyone know we were already married. Most folks thought it was wise, although I do wish my dad had been able to walk his only daughter down the aisle.

Looking back now, it's quite overwhelming how far we've come. We were just kids! But we were so in love, and so determined to set out on our own. Now here we are, nine years later - older, wiser, changed, and still madly in love. What a ride.