seven years ago today

august 29, 2001... "the whole day was kind of a countdown. eight hours left. four hours left. an hour left. it sucked that way. we went to the mall to pick up some things with sherrie [burton's mom] and the three of us ate lunch in the food court. sherrie talked about how poor they were when she and clark were first married. it was fun to listen to her talk.

dinner was tough, 'cause we ate kind of late, so by the time we were done it was almost time for me to go. we had decided that i should leave before he got set apart, so i arranged for emily to come pick me up. both burton and i were getting pretty glassy-eyed sitting at the table. finally, we just went downstairs and cried. we stood in his room, hugging and sobbing. we sat down and just talked and cried. it was awful, but beautiful.

we eventually went upstairs and sat outside on the bench in the front yard. we just held hands and talked through tears. then emily's car pulled up. my heart just beat a million miles a minute. we went inside and i gathered my things and then we hugged. we hugged for so long. burton sobbed. his parents, whom i just hugged seconds earlier were both standing there watching - they were both pretty teary-eyed too. after one of the longest good-bye hugs i think i've ever had, corinne and clark came up and i hugged them and then gave burton one last hug and kiss and walked out the door. i could hardly bear to look at burton for fear my heart would rip out of my chest. he was still sobbing. i got in the car and completely lost it. as we drove out of the driveway, i looked back and could see through the front doorway window. burton was hugging his mom, and then turned to his dad and was just hunched over his shoulder crying. it was so hard to leave him."

what a day!! so many unknowns. so many emotions. i recall being SO excited for burton to serve a mission, but it didn't really make the day any less difficult. we said our good-bye's and hoped for the best. we were truly best friends who happened upon each other under unlikely circumstances. we hadn't spent more than a week apart in over 6 months, and now we were looking at two whole years. we wrote every week. he put his whole heart and soul into serving a mission, and i did as he asked and tried not to simply wait around. seven years later, it's quite amazing to look back and see how often the Lord whispered in my ear that burton was the one for me. that somehow, it would all work out. that no matter how the story ended, He was aware of us and we would be alright. and so today, i just thought i'd share a little bit of the story... and acknowledge how grateful i am for this man in my life who laughs with me, inspires me, works hard with me, talks with me, cries with me (though, it's not easy to get this man to cry), and is in this for the long-haul with me.

happy 7 years since you entered the MTC burton! :) thanks for coming back and marrying me. i love you much.