Niel, Sweet Niel

Well, we did it. We survived our first year of marriage...with 12 children between us, squishing into one small home, adjusting to different schedules, etc., etc., etc....

It hasn't all been easy. And you really learn a lot about someone while you are in the trenches with them. I am telling you that Niel deserves a medal, perhaps Congressional Medal of Honor, if that were possible. In truth, I have not adjusted quickly or easily.

However, Niel is loyal and patient and willing to go to the mat again and again. I have never met anybody more willing to work at a relationship and more willing to change and to grow than Niel. And his courage in the face of emotional storms is unmatched.

His ways are definitely not my ways, and sometimes (not always!) his ways are better. We have both changed a little. He watches "Wife Swap" with me sometimes and I attended at least four action movies this summer.

Every once in a while, I look at him and see the Niel I knew in high school. I marvel again and again that our journeys have brought us together after all these years. Finally, I am together again with my good friend.

And, at last, we are again becoming comfortable with each other.

I would be in a foxhole with Niel anytime. I trust him and know he would cover my back.