I feel like I'm a pretty weird person. I mean, I know we're all pretty weird but I sometimes think about how weird I am and how lucky I feel to have found someone else in this big, wide world who gets me. I remember reading a quote somewhere that talked about how we just need to find someone whose weirdness is compatible with our own. And then we fall into this sort of mutual weirdness and call it love. Or something like that. I feel so lucky though to have found my weird counterpart. The person who laughs at all of my cheesy jokes, who gets my sarcastic humor, accepts my often mercurial moods, and who has no problem just sitting and being, and not always talking.
Hank and I have been together for 8 years next month and while it seems like a lifetime, it also seems like it's gone by in the blink of an eye. That's the craziness of love I suppose; I imagine I'll feel the same way when we're 80, wondering where all the time went, but also looking back on a lifetime of so much joy and thinking, "wow, look at everywhere we've been." I feel lucky to have met Hank when we were both so young. We grew up together in a sense, and the older I get, the luckier I feel that we grew together and not apart. We're both so different from the youngsters that met on that August afternoon. Life has gone on and we've changed and changed (and changed), but even with those differences we're still those same two kids. Those same two kids, still crazy in love. And now there's three of us.
When Henry came into our lives I knew things would change. We've always had this attitude of "Team Hampton," cheesy as it sounds, but it's just how it is. We're a team, on each others' side always, supporting and helping one another, pushing each other to succeed and do our best. And although adding a baby into our little family (our team!) was hard at times, especially those nights where Henry would cry and cry, and I would be snappy and annoyed at Hank for one reason or another...it still was okay because we were this unit, working together and getting it done. But oh, those crazy nights. We got through those first months though, and of course things got easier.
Our focus shifted somewhere around Henry's 6 month mark. Oh! We need to make time for us! And so we got back into our dating routine, remembering to make time for one another, even if it was just enjoying three hours on the couch at the end of the night, laughing together at Curb Your Enthusiasm and sharing a bowl of popcorn. And now that Henry is almost 2 years old, making time for one another is much easier. I look forward to these special nights we get to spend together. I enjoy getting dolled up a bit, and enjoy the anticipation of a delicious meal.
The other night we had one of those special evenings- a rare "leave the house" kind of date night, and there was a moment during dinner that I kind of sat back for a moment and took it in. We're all grown up, married and parents, and on a date away from our son who is happily playing at his grandparents. Sometimes I'm hit with these realizations at the strangest times, and they're so poignant and real that I'm almost blindsided. I am happy. And it's not that I haven't always been happy, but this is it, my life, my family, my husband. And it's good. I'm so thankful for it and so grateful for this life that at times I don't even know how to convey it in this space without overdoing it. But in that moment, sandwiched somewhere between the black bean salad and the fried goat cheese, a little tiny piece of me exhaled and sent a tiny "thank you" into the universe. Life is good.