One year ago, today, I wrote this:

My husband and I were in the car together this morning, and at 8:22 am, he turned to me and said “Happy Anniversary.”  One year and three minutes ago, our lives irrevocably changed.

This short exchange sums up almost every reason I love my husband.  He has this way of working small miracles.  He turned one of the greatest tragedies of our lives into a celebration of our ability to endure as a family.  Hardship can tear people apart, or it can knit them together inseparably in bonds of survivorship.   We are more than husband and wife, we are veterans in arms.

 Another year has gone by.

It feels like a lifetime.

Over the last year, our lives have been rocked by a different kind of hardship – one with a more private face.  But every word I wrote one year ago, I still believe.

I still believe that we can learn, love and endure.

I still believe that, in the end, we will celebrate our survivorship together.

I still believe that through the tears and the heartache that we will find the lasting core of love and respect that has sustained us for over nine years.   And we will remain.

I still believe in small miracles.

MTAME, my love.  One year later.