A Trip Down Memory Lane...

A couple of weeks ago I was reading a blog that a friend of mine writes and she had shared some memories she had been thinking about and it was so sweet and I thought I need to do something like that, it is fun to think back every now and then, but I have been busy with holiday preperations and haven't thought much else about it until yesterday.
    Riding in the car for long periods of time causes me to have a lot of random thoughts and observations which I usually like to share with others in the car whether they really want to hear it or not. Jason has learned that if we are on a car trip, I should either be driving (which keeps me focused on the radio and the road) or stocked up on candy and snacks (which keeps me focused on eating and sharing with the children) because if I am just riding, boredom kicks in quickly and everyone gets to join in on my randomness, which could include anything from "why do cows always face the same way in the field?" to " Did you know that you cannot really go a whole day without seeing a cow or an image of a cow?" ( try it out, it is almost immposible). I read billboards, change the radio station every five minutes, count license plates, look for antique malls, and generally drive everyone crazy.
     Yesterday was no exception, as we traveled to see family and I was just riding along, all of a sudden I began to think about the holidays. I realized that for my husband and I this will be our twenty first Christmas together. I had to add that one up three times just to make sure I was right and yep, that was correct...21.  I began to think back to that very first Christmas we were together and amazingly, I remembered it quite well. Jason says it is because girls remember weird firsts... first dates, first kisses, first anniversaries of all kinds of things, in other words, it is a girl thing. He didn't remember much of it at all, which didn't surprise me, since he doesn't remember what we did last week. I began thinking of our holidays together and how many things have changed over the years, and how many things have stayed the same.
     That first Christmas, we were just teenagers, we had only been dating about two months. I had never met a single person in his family except for his brother, who I already knew from school, and his Grandparents, who I knew from church. I had never even been in his house when anyone else was home. We went out on a date a few days before Christmas, we ate out, saw a movie, Hook, I think, and then we went back to his house. His Dad was working, and I am not sure where the rest of his family was, but no one was home, at least none that I saw. We were both nervous because I had only been to his house a few times. I am not sure his parents knew about me yet and my parents weren't thrilled about me dating a younger guy who they didn't really approve of or know. ( typical parent, daughter dating, anxiety ) Looking back, that seems so funny. We sat downstairs in the basement room and exchanged our little gifts. I honestly can't remember what I got him (but I am sure it was good, because I always give him good presents...haha) but he got me clothes, which I remember thinking that he probably did not pick out, maybe his Grandmother, since he was not a shopper, and knew nothing about clothes, but they were very nice. I even remember what they looked like and what color they were. I was surprised he had bought me anything, since he wasn't working yet and we didn't know each other very well. It was late, we mumbled our thanks, it was an awkward teenage moment, but I went home that night...happy.
    Who would have ever dreamed, that 21 years later, we would still be spending our Christmas' together. Life has changed so much in those twenty one years. Our love has grown, our family has grown, our Christmas traditions are very different from those early days, we have a home of our own, the faces around the tree have changed, our hair is grayer, we have children. It amazes me how far we have come and how much God has brought us through and how much He has changed us. I still love exchanging gifts and Jason now has two little shoppers to help him out. I feel like that young nervous girl with the butterflies in her stomach, tentatively opening a present in front of a cute guy is a lifetime away. I feel like that young nervous girl with the butterflies in her stomach, tentatively opening a present in front of a cute guy was yesterday. I may be older, I may be fatter, I may be a lifetime removed from that first Christmas with my love, but I still am that girl, with butterflies in her stomach, opening presents in front of a cute guy except it is no longer awkward and I am already at home but I am still...happy.