It's All Right

Once again a business trip turned into a family vacation this past weekend. But, this time there was something utterly special about being in Sacramento.

Since M and I were celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary, it was fitting to be celebrating that day in the city where we began our life together. We were able to visit our favorite restaurant and reminisce about many of the things we loved about our early married life in Sacramento. We were also able to share those memories with our kids. It was a great way to spend such a special day.

As is usual for me lately, spending time in a city where I once lived, got me thinking. Aside from being our first home as a married couple, what was it that made our time in Sacramento so memorable? There were the obvious things, like the birth of our first two children, owning our first home, eating Mexican food at Ernesto's, attending basketball games and events, mostly for free, at what was once Arco Arena...and the list goes on.

But, what I really remember most are the relationships we had during that time. The forever friends we found at a time when we were setting up our identity as a married couple. Unfortunately, it was the distance put between these relationships that helped cement our decision to leave the city where we started our married life and return to the place where we had grown up. To return to our families.

And while our return "home" brought many positive elements back into our lives, there were many things missing. Our friends. The truth was, we only spent three years with these friends before they moved away, but it seemed like we had known them forever.

Even though it is difficult to keep up a relationship over thousands of miles, we have have managed to stay connected. We have calls each New Year's, which makes it convenient for us west coasters who have a hard time staying up until midnight. And, with us taking two trips to the east and them coming west once, we have even managed to get together over the years.

When I think about them so far away and the fact that we both have three children all the same ages, I long for a different set of circumstances, when we could have stayed living in the same city, with our families remaining connected.

Yet, I know that I cannot change anything about the circumstances of our friendship. And, that's okay. God gave us these friends at the perfect time in our life. It was a time and place when we truly needed them, and they needed us.

And, the reality is that God has put many more people in our lives who have become so important, so special to us, over the past seven years. His timing is perfect. He always knows what and who we need.

This weekend we celebrated 12 years of marriage, of a life together. There are many things, both positive and negative that we have experienced in the past twelve years. I am grateful for all of them, as they have led us to this point. To the place, with the people that are right for us, now.