February 20, 2022

Today is Our 12th Anniversary – so please join me in wishing my AMAZING husband a very Happy 12-year Anniversary!!

For those of you that know me, you know that this man deserves a medal – A GOLD MEDAL Y’ALL.  Being married to me for 12 years is no easy feat and certainly no laughing matter.  He has to endure dealing with me and my craziness day in and day out and the best part about it is he still laughs about it every single day and chooses to stay!!! This is why I say – “Third time is a charm” because it is!!!

Last night, Mano and I went to dinner at Siena Restaurant in Austin, Texas (link found here) to celebrate our Anniversary.  We chose this restaurant because I have been craving Carpaccio, one of my favorite dishes and this restaurant had it on its menu and because Mano LOVES Italian food.  It’s his absolute favorite and he’d eat it every day of the week if I would let him.  I enjoy a good Italian meal but wouldn’t want to eat it every single day as he would. 

For the first time ever, we had dinner reservations at 4:30 pm for a couple of reasons. One reason is that I didn’t want to be in a crowded restaurant with lots of people while COVID is still out there just waiting to take its next victim down. I certainly do not want to be the next person to get COVID and miss my next chemo. The second reason was that, well let’s face it, my anemia is still a very real thing and I get super tired in the evenings and I knew I would not be able to hang much past 7-8 pm at the latest. Mano keeps telling me that I’m getting old. I just keep reminding him that I’m still feeling the effects of chemo. I am sure the truth is somewhere in between. 

The meal was amazing. The restaurant was not super busy at 4:30 pm (shocked, I know), and because of such, the service was impeccable and the food was delicious. Overall, it was a wonderful, wonderful evening. A much-needed evening out. My heart was filled with so much gratitude and joy. It was the best day for so many reasons. It’s truly hard to explain, but when faced with the year that we have, we’ve learned to enjoy the simpler moments together. Life is not always about the big things. Often just the times we spend together are the best moments. For us, this was ours this week. 

I gave my love a letter today for our Anniversary and he gave me a letter back and we wanted to share a small part of the messages that we shared with each other – I feel that this is important stuff for us all to remember as we walk this road called life.  Here we go:

• I’ve had some time to do some reflecting on the years we have shared and the vows we exchanged on that memorable day.  The one thing that continues to cross my heart is how wonderful God is and how much we have been blessed over these past 12 years.  
• One of the things I can say with certainty is that this experience has taught me not to take one moment for granted – the moments we have in our lives are not as many as we think and each of them should be enjoyed to its fullest.  You have given me this for the past 12 years.  All the moments, the good ones, the bad ones, the healthy ones, the sick ones, the happy ones, the sad ones, the poor ones, the rich ones, and all those moments in between, have been my biggest joys and I can’t wait to build and share the next chapter of my life with you.
• I relish in the moments where we laugh at each other and ourselves knowing that if others knew what we were truly laughing about they would think we are crazy. 
• I want us to plan a vision board – to focus on trips where we can share more moments and memories together – I’d like to start as soon as I am through radiation, no more waiting for another day/month/year.  This lesson has taught me/us that we need to take advantage of our blessings and enjoy our moments now.
• I am madly in love with you and will love you for all eternity. You always have a way of making me laugh like I’ve never laughed before. 
• I have always known you were a strong woman but watching you take on cancer head-on at a million miles an hour has been a really incredible thing to watch. What you have done with your blog is amazing. You have a real talent and you are already helping others who are just now starting down this path. 

As you can see – the message is clear.  Tell those around you how much you love them each day.  Laugh together, laugh at each other but laugh. It is one of the best medicines.  We are never promised tomorrow so make your intention clear today.  Enjoy each moment together today.  Eat dessert, take the trip, buy the shirt, drink the wine, whatever it is – just do it!  You will be glad that you did.  No one sits at the end of their life and regrets the things they did, the money they spent, the mistakes they made.  They regret the things they DIDN’T do and they wish they had done them – don’t wait till it’s too late.  Take my advice – just do it and enjoy the moments  Trust me, once I am fully recovered and back in the saddle you will see Mano and I, enjoying the moments, eating the dessert, drinking the wine, and taking the trips.  We will never again take anything for granted – that is one thing this journey has taught us and I promise you we will be living like we are dying.  (queue the song by Tim McGraw – Live like you are dying found here). 

Today, I want to say a special thanks to Mano for being the man who has taken such good care of me during this journey, for driving me everywhere (Houston, Chemo, Acupuncture, etc.), for grabbing dinners only to have me say, “that didn’t taste as I expected it too” because of my chemo mouth, for tucking me in bed early every night, taking the dogs out, dealing with all of Christian’s grades, discipline, teacher conferences, etc. (and this is definitely a daily challenge), for making sure I take my medicine and do my daily check-ins and just, in general, being my rock during this uphill hike we’ve been on.  What I know is that the words Thank You is not enough, however, they are the only words I know that fit… so Thank you, my love.  You have made this journey so much easier than it would have been otherwise.

I love you, Mano, more than words can ever say and I can’t wait to share the next 30+ years together as we move into the next chapter of our lives preparing to build our Forever home on our land in Evant, Texas.  I can’t wait to watch the sunrise and sunset off our many porches and watch the deer graze our land.  I can’t wait to build many more memories together and watch the blessings that God has for us unfold.  Happy Anniversary my love – Cheers to 12 years of love and laughter and all other emotions in between. 

And – thank you all for the Anniversary wishes!  We love our village and again, couldn’t do this journey without you.

Xo,

Tracy