Love - Day 3

Today is Jason's and my first anniversary. No we haven't been only married for a year. We've been married for 8. But we have two official anniversaries. Huh?

We got engaged in March of 2000. A week later we found out that we were expecting Riley (oops!). I wanted to push the wedding up to a date before Riley was due. Jason wanted to wait until after she was born and have a big "church" wedding. He was pretty adament about that so we set March 3, 2001 for our wedding date. But in November 2000, only 13 days after giving birth to Riley, I had a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage. I spent 10 days in the hospital and 6 months after that recuperating from the hemorrhage. Jason and I were terrified that something else horrible would happen to me. I had health insurance coverage for me and the kids through my job but Jason didn't have any coverage. We were also afraid that if something would happen to me, the state would try to take Austin from Jason and give him to his birth father to raise. He and I spoke with our pastor a few weeks before the wedding and voiced our concerns with him. We explained why we wanted to get married sooner so that Jason would have insurance coverage and more rights to Austin. But we couldn't just change the wedding date since invitations had been sent and people had plans to come from out of state.

So Pastor Geib agreed to marry the two of us in a private ceremony after church service on Sunday February 11, 2001. We didn't tell a soul. My inlaws kept the kids and we told them that we were going to go out for lunch and do a little shopping. Instead, we headed back to the church and exchanged our vows. I didn't wear my wedding dress but I honestly can't remember what it was that I wore. We did exchange rings however took them off following the ceremony.

Jason and I decided not to tell our parents about our first wedding as we thought they'd be a bit disappointed that they weren't involved in it. But getting married a few weeks early allowed Jason to have full coverage and rights prior to the big wedding ceremony. We were excited to have an anniversary that no one would know about. And today is that anniversary. In a few weeks we'll celebrate the wedding anniversary that everyone else remembers. (Oh and we did eventually tell our families the truth but it was more than a year later. They understood but we a bit upset anyway).

For the Month of Love challenge, Jason is the love that I want to write about. I truly love this man. We've had our ups and downs over the years. We've gone through some major stuff in such a short time -- stuff that many couples never have to endure in an entire lifetime of marriage. We've dealt with the death of a child, infertility, a brain hemorrhage, a 7 month separation, financial issues, depression, surgeries, and job loss. And yet through these struggles we have remained loyal and strong.

Jason accepted my son as his own child when he was just 22 years old and in college. He has loved Austin unconditionally and treats him no different than his two biological children. Jason is a provider. He works long hard hours six days a week delivering mail so that we can have a nice home and a comfortable lifestyle. Jason is unselfish and caring. He supports me through all of my crazy and wild ideas. He's goofy and acts like a child which sometimes drives me nuts but I love it anyway. Jason enjoys spending time with me and the kids even though he's exhausted from work.

He is just a good man. A great father. A loving husband. And I'm so proud to be Mrs. Halter. I look forward to a lifetime with him.

Happy 1st Anniversary babe. I love you!