Today is an important day for many reasons.
Chronologically, it marks the 24th anniversary of the day of my birth. Many would think that this should be the most important thing on the list, and it ranks very high up there, but there are other important things to celebrate. I like to think that they all have a symbiotic relationship with each other – without one, there wouldn’t be the other, and they all live and thrive off of each other.
It is also the one-year anniversary of my engagement to the man I love. It is almost impossible to think that it has already been a year since that amazing weekend, since the thrill that shot through every muscle in my body when I first saw the ring and the first tears of joy that fell down my cheek when my wish finally came true. It was hard to wrap my mind around the idea that I would be marrying my best friend of seven years, as much as I had imagined it for so long, it was finally going to come true.
He started as a mentor and turned into a friend, confidant, and comforter. I distinctly remember the electricity of his hand resting on mine as I hid my tears of a broken heart. He knew I was hurting, despite my best efforts to keep it from the world, and he taught me how to have the confidence that I needed to heal.
From that friendship forged a melding of hearts and minds, the ultimate companionship, where it was not only safe to be completely yourself but required. In a world where you are constantly restricted or judged by peers, coworkers, family, and complete strangers, finding sanctuary within another person to be free to act or say whatever you wish is absolutely liberating. To have that person adore you even more for it is, in my opinion, an essential component of an enduring and fruitful relationship.
I could easily write forever about what drew me in, what kept me around, what keeps me happy even through the hardest life trials I have ever endured. This is not the time to write about them, because today is about the promise that I made one year ago to join with him in a union celebrating our friendship and love.
Numerically, today is also the year’s halfway point to our wedding. In fact, it will be the halfway point to our wedding date every year. If I have the allowance to abuse numbers for a minute, just follow along…
May 21 is the 141st day of the year,
except for leap year, in which case it is the 142nd
October 10 is the 283rd day of the year,
except for leap year, in which case is the 284th
In both scenarios, the halfway point to October 10 falls on May 21.
But there is more:
October 10, 2010 in binary is 101010.
101010, when converted into decimal, is the number 42.
May 21, no matter what kind of year it is,
is 142 days away from October 10.
Now that my geek is showing, I will bring it back to earth a little bit.
Symbolically, this day is an important stepping stone in the cycle of my life, from growing a year older, to moving forward in our own shared happiness, to adding another blissful year to our relationship and (soon-to-be) marriage. In 142 days, I will call my best friend husband. We will share our vows and exchange rings, but the ring on my finger will be more than just a piece of metal with some pretty rocks in it. It will be a symbol of the commitment that we have already and will continue to make to each other; the memories that we have already shared and have yet to create; our roots growing into the ground and supporting the branches that will be constantly growing up towards the sky.
As is the tree of life, so is the ring of eternal love, so is an ever-growing and evolving union between soulmates.
