Foundations

FAMILY, MARRIAGE

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I remember the night you called me, your voice awkward and intentional, “I need to see you. We need to talk.” I assumed it was the end of us, what little of us existed after a date and a smattering of lengthy conversations. I couldn’t imagine otherwise what could be so pressing. I sat at the kitchen table in my PJs, making notes on Waiting for Godot or some other drama, distracted by the waiting, pretending to ignore the looming let down. When you arrived, you sat by my side and asked to walk with me in the night, a privacy I didn’t feel necessary for a “let’s just be friends” conversation. I was annoyed but obliged anyway. I did love your friendship and wanted to pretend that was enough. We strolled the vacant street together slipping in and out of shadows for a mile before you stopped by a pond and asked me to marry you. Thousands of words spilled into that night, but thirteen years later all I can seem to remember is “yes.”

 ———————–

The terrain of marriage rises and falls like those golden Californian hills. Yet somewhere on that misty, unknown horizon, oak trees grow. Their misshapen and varied limbs raise to the sky, rooted and strong.

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  1. your writing is so exquisite, bethany. happy anniversary. we celebrated 13 years last october. though i can’t write the way you do, i feel the same about the years and the roots and the horizon. love the photos here. and what a precious way to be proposed to. i love the simple realness in those moment you described.

    1. Author

      You’re always so generous, Georgia. Thank you. and yes, cheers to thirteen years full of realness and awakening and growth. x

  2. I love this, mostly because it reminds me so much of my own story. I still look at my Barrett and can’t believe how mysterious he once was to me- I celebrate with you, God is so good.

    1. Author

      Yes! Thank you, Kristen. Mysterious is the perfect word, and yet now I too can’t imagine ever not knowing him. Marriage is funny like that, and I’m so grateful.

    1. Author

      I feel so different and removed from this story in so many ways. It’s good to remember the faith, the unknowns, the growth. Thank you Samantha.

  3. such vulnerable & beautiful moments. thanks so much for sharing a bit of your marriage’s beginning.
    amy

    1. Author

      You’re always such an encouragement, Amy. Thank you and heaps of blessing to you in your own marriage. x

    1. Author

      It always seems people should know the beginning, the little sprouts of a relationship. Thank you, Kacie.

  4. Your words are so beautiful, they penetrate my heart this evening in the best way. Marriage is a beautiful challenge, congratulations on marking another milestone and I wish you many more happy years ahead!

  5. Oh good grief Bethany you are an artist of words! Happy anniversary

  6. Beautiful.

    For you to have gone into technical writing would have been a waste of criminal proportions.

  7. Bethany, congratultions on thriteen years! You described it beautifully. I am celebrating fifteen years with my husband this July! ;)

    1. Author

      Thank you! And congrats to you on fifteen. It’s shocking, yes? Best to you both. X

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