Those Were The Best Days of My Life

Yesterday DeeAnn and I celebrated 14 years of marriage. We do not take this milestone lightly, but with pride as we reflect on the choices we have made over the years to enjoy, and at times, endure our life together. We are grateful for the love we offer each other and have seen so much growth and love learned over the last few years in particular.

One of the first commitments DeeAnn and I embarked upon in our marriage, was the selection of our dog Ruffy, over 12 years ago. Unfortunately she was in the final years of her life, and had a variety of issues including missing most her teeth and unpredictable bowel control. I talked with Gavin about putting her down and he seemed to understand that her time was up. Surprisingly, it has been Ethan who has asked the most questions about when Ruffy will come home. How do you, repeatedly, tell a 2 year old that his dog is never coming back? Gavin seems to be doing well, but we did have a long conversation about why we say, “putting her to sleep.” Which then raised the questions, “Would she snore when they made her sleep,” and, “Why not just say that she would be dead.”

Thankfully, we took off to Portland for the weekend to visit some friends and family so our minds were not on Ruffy and how loud her snores might be. It was about a six hour trip including stops but we got to experience some beautiful countryside and an amazing sunset, at 8:30pm, in-between the rain and clouds.

Our primary reason for going to Portland was to go to a kids concert. Jana Alayra http://www.janaalayra.com/ writes and performs childrens songs and has an amazing personal story of survival, from a failed marriage to the death of a child. It was in such stark contrast to our own current issues, that it made us think twice about what is truly important. Specifically, little Camden has been really struggling with eating. He has barely gained weight over the last month or so, and DeeAnn has been working with a lactation specialists to help the situation. When it is time to feed he will box with his hands, cry and move his head from side to side resisting any urge to eat. We have found that he will take a bottle but the process of doing so has become a huge struggle involving both time and energy.

The funny thing is that Oregon is the leading state for breast feeding in the nation. How does somebody measure that statistic? Anyway we are doing somewhat better in the feeding department but not out of the woods yet. The lactation nurse says that often it’s two steps forward and one step back. It was a lot to take on as we drove to Portland, yet we have been blessed with so many of you praying for us and we actually had two nights when he slept through until early morning.

This trip was the first time we have been outside Southern Oregon since moving here. As we drove into Portland with the boys in back singing along with Bryan Adams song “Summer of Sixty-Nine,” and Camden screaming at the top of his lungs for the last hour, I realized that we have so much to be thankful for. What better way to celebrate 14 years of marriage than with the most important gifts He has given us, each other.