"this shall be a love day"

i don't know how this much time has passed, but 2 years and 2 months ago - i sat in the living room of my apartment (obviously pre-house), making a -1 anniversary card for my soon-to-be (obviously pre-marriage) husband. it was august 11th, 2006. and one year from that day, i knew i'd be walking down the isle to marry my best friend. i still remember the card - it was pink & orange, just like our wedding colors - and i'd rigged it up like a pop up book somehow. on the front, i used a quote sticker from a set of scrapbooking stuff i had that said, "this shall be a love day". i could have sworn it was by shakespeare - but in an attempt to be completely accurate, i tried googling it and haven't come up with anything. so....i suppose...take my word for it? :)

anyway, i surprised husband with the card when he got home from work that day, and we went out for dinner at chili's to celebrate. most people called me dorky for celebrating a -1 anniversary (and, yeah, it was dorky...oh well). but i loved it. i loved that we were pre-celebrating a day that would remain special to us for all of our future days.

the quote stuck with me. i think about it every 11th of every month. because, to me, the 11th is a love day. it's some minute anniversary of the day i promised everything i am, to one wonderful person. a day that i remember fondly - for all of it's beautiful chaotic moments. and so, i've decided to pay homage to my special love day. every 11th of every month, i'll post a love day entry. i'm expecting it to include a wedding picture (or 2, or 3...) and a memory (or a few). it's not only nice to remember those special little moments - but to document them now, while the whole thing is still just a year in my past. instead of trying to come up with the details 10 years from now and just finding foggy snippets.

i decided to kick this off with my favorite part of the wedding vows. it holds an extra special meaning for husband & i. right after eating dinner at our reception, husband's 92 year old grandmother wanted us to open her present. so we made our way to her table, and did just that. it was a cross-stitched picture, in such beautiful detail - it was incredible that her 92 year old fingers could create something so beautiful. it ended up being our absolute favorite gift.

unfortunately, she passed away this january. just 5 months after our wedding. during our last visit with her, she told us that we were such a good couple and she was so thrilled to be able to make it to our wedding. it meant so much to me to hear that. we have her picture hung at the base of our stairs, easily viewable from the living room - and the first thing you see when going up the stairs. i often pause and study it. paying attention to the detail, and reading the words to myself. "to have and to hold, from this day forward." it's such a simple statement, with such profound meaning. beginning on our wedding day, august 11 2007, we will always have each other. we will always be there to hold each other - in good times & bad. i am so thankful that his grandma made us something to remind us of that.