Today, as I awaken, I think immediately back to one year ago and what I was doing. I was then waking up and realizing it was MY WEDDING DAY. Yes, it was ONE YEAR AGO TODAY that Georges and I got married! I remember everything about the day: how Georges and I were both giddy with happiness from the moment we woke up (none of that "can't see the bride on the wedding day" superstition for us), how we had so much fun with my family and his daughter getting ready for it all, how beautiful the house looked and how grateful I was that my sister and brother-in-law "gave" us their house for the entire event (she's so great at decorating that she could give Martha Stewart some lessons), how gorgeous my Georges looked in his suit with the lavender shirt and green tie to complement my green dress -- and the look on his face when he first saw me in that dress before the ceremony.
I remember greeting my friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in a while, and how happy I was they could be there to share in this huge moment in my life -- they'd shared so much with me already. I remember standing in front of the fireplace, filled with flowers, while my friend Laura performed the ceremony in both French and English, and how we were beaming the entire thing to Paris via webcam, to Georges' older son who wasn't able to be with us. I remember Laura passing Kleenex to both me and Georges as we laughed and cried our way through the entire thing (it's Laura's own fault; she asked us to tell her, in advance and secretly, what we loved about the other person -- and then read it out loud to the whole room). I remember saying "I do" and Georges saying, "Oui". I remember the rings. I remember the kiss.
And I remember the love overflowing in the room, from me to Georges, from Georges to me, from us to everyone in the room and back again.
Even now, even though I know without a shadow of a doubt that we were destined to be together, that somehow our souls CHOSE our respective paths in life that brought us both to Paris to meet each other on October 4, 2007 and later to the alter on July 12, 2008 -- I sometimes find it hard to believe I met him at all! That he fell in love with me. That he chose me. That he married me. That he sees things in me that I sometimes find hard to see in myself. That he finds me beautiful and graceful and sexy. That he believes in me and my ability to do amazing things with my talents. But he did, and he does.
He is my miracle.
He makes me happier every single day of my life, since I met him, than I ever thought I could ever be. He makes me want to stretch myself and be all that I can be, for HIM as well as for myself. He gave me the opportunity to challenge myself through building relationships with his three children, whom I adore. He takes care of me, and he gives me the gift of being able to take care of him. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing a good enough job at that latter part, because he's so amazing to me that I never want to take him for granted. He makes me feel like the most blessed, most wanted and most loved woman in the world.
So today, I just want him to know that I remember everything, from the moment he first saw me as I stepped off the #89 bus, to the moment he got down on one knee after having dropped the melon on the beach, to the look in his eyes as we took our vows -- and everything in between and since. Every smile. Every touch of his hand. Every look in his eyes that radiates his love. There's nothing else he needs to do, or say, or BE, in this life, other than exactly who he is... because who he is, is perfect for me and I love him.
Today as we retrace our steps to "Melon Beach" to spend the day there and have lunch in the same place we had lunch that day (and told the news to his sister and the Little Guy before calling the other kids), we'll remember together what it was like the day we decided to get married -- and I know Georges remembers it all, too. We aren't exchanging any store-bought gifts, either. What better gift could we possibly give each other today... than simply being together -- and remembering it well.
