21 Years of Traveling through Marriage

We'll be heading off to Paris soon. I remember the last time I was there. It was summer. I was young and in love but traveling with my parents while my boyfriend back in Texas was packing up to move to another city. Would the relationship last? I had no idea. I definitely had my doubts. It would be at least two more years before I would graduate from university and could contemplate joining him.

May 1990 —  I first visited Paris one month after this.

The friendship between this boy and myself started blossoming into something more the year beforehand when we started writing letters to each other while he was away on a summer internship. Yes, actual letters — on paper, in envelopes with stamps... the kind where you have to check your physical mailbox to see if the postman had left you something. I didn't realize at that time that we were at the end of an era. Do young folks smitten with each other still pen missives to give their romance an epistolary kick start?

Joyfully, our relationship survived the distance and the many trips back and forth to visit each other. Well, it was him driving to see me 99% of the time.

One of the things that really impressed me about this guy was his traveling childhood. Every summer, his family of  two parents and four boys would jet off somewhere to explore the world. Machu Picchu, The Forbidden City, the Coliseum, the Sydney Opera House, the Pyramids at Giza, and on and on... He'd been everywhere.

June 6, 1992 — Our wedding day

We were married twenty-one years ago on June 6. "D-Day" is usually the first comment I get when I tell people our anniversary date. From the reception, we headed directly to the airport for our honeymoon, our first vacation together. It was my first big trip without either my parents or a priest (high school church ski trip) accompanying me. I was married and felt so grown-up! We sailed out of Miami on a Caribbean cruise. He had many cruises under his belt, but this was my maiden (matron?) voyage. Afterwards, we spent a week at Disney World. Who needs kids to hang with the Mouse?



January 2008 
Disney World with kids almost 15 years after our honeymoon there
 

This summer, we're headed to Paris. My love will be by my side instead of an ocean away.

I'm such a different person than the young lass who visited there decades ago. My black hair is starting to show strands of gray. My mid-section is squishier. I'm no longer somewhat insecure in my relationship. It feels rock solid, unlike my abs. I've graduated from being the kid to being the mom — three times over, no less.



Hanson Bay, Kangaroo Island, Australia — January 2013

 

Happy 21st Anniversary to my much adored husband.

I am blessed to call you mine.



This post is part of Travel Photo Thursday on Budget Travelers Sandbox. Check it out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.