Six Years Ago This Weekend...

Me giving Kevin the cross-stitch I did of our LAUGHING TOGETHER relationship menu.

     Kevin and I, through the sacrament of holy matrimony, committed our lives to loving and serving God and one another. On September 4, 2004, at Church of the Epiphany, we gathered with family and friends from far and near to celebrate our wedding Mass.

     Through the grace of God, Kevin and I came to our wedding day with a much deeper appreciation for the Lord, Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Mother, our Catholic faith, our families, friends, and one another. We’d spent years thinking and talking about getting married.

     Actually, after spending one week together in Rochester when I was only 17, Kevin squeezed my hand as he drove me home the last night I was in town and said, “I wish you could be the one.”

     Sometimes it’s still hard to believe how God brought us together and has kept us together over the years. The circumstances and timing of our first meeting were definitely divinely orchestrated. I continue to be amazed that Kevin kept every single card and gift I ever gave him, even before we began dating. He is still amused and in awe that I recorded so many of our early years together in a memory book I made for him. Both treasure stores have helped immensely as I’ve worked on the memoir about how God brought the two of us together and has kept us together through some mighty storms. By the time we were joined forever on that Labor Day weekend six years ago, we had already supported each other through many joys and sorrows.

Dave, Jim (my dad), Bob, and Rich Niermeyer at our rehearsal dinner 9-3-04

     It was the first time some of Kevin’s second cousins had ever been to a wedding. It was the last time my mom, sisters, my dad and his three brothers and their wives were ever together in the same place.

     Lord, thank You for bringing Kevin and me together and keeping us together as best friends and as a married couple. Help us to continue to develop a more intimate relationship with You and one another in all areas of our lives, so that this day and each we will glorify You more by living out our two most important vocations: to love and serve you and one another with all of our minds, bodies, and souls. Amen.