A lot can Happen in 17 Years

Namely:

• 2 miscarriages
• 4 rounds of bed rest
• 4 live births
• 3 of them were premature births
• 1 of them resulted in a 1 month NICU stay
• 5 years (cumulative) of raising Lee's  niece, Lindsy
• 6 surgeries (3 mine, 2 Lindsy's, and 1 Lee)
• 3 Grandparents passed away
• Each of us lost a sibling tragically
• Lee's parent's moved to Lousiana
• 3 visits to Lousiana--2 as a family one Lee went himself
• My parents moved to Milford and back again
• 5 of my siblings and 1 of Lee's siblings got married
• Planned and paid for Lindsy's wedding
• 5 baby blessings (4 of ours, 1 of Lindsy's)
• 4 children baptized
• 8 places of residence
• 13 family members have lived with us at one time or another
• 4 elderly people lived in our home for paid 24 hour care
• 2 miserable trips to disneyland
• 1 awesome trip to Europe
• 4 fabulous trips to Costa Rica
• 3 Cruises (two together, one writing one for me)
• 2 Grandkids, sorta (Lindsy's boys)
• Built 4 Assisted living Centers
• Managed 7 Assisted living Centers
• 65 or so love letters
• 40 or so chickens
• 2 dogs
• 3 cats
• 2 goats
• 15 cumulative years of kid's orthidontics
• 2 5K races
• Half a dozen fights
• 3 failed business ventures
• 12 thriving business ventures
• 17 cars
• 1 flood
• 3 car accidents
• Thousands of hugs and kisses
• Every place on the financial spectrum from broke to wealthy
• 1 college graduation (his)
• 11 published novels (mine)
• 80 birthday celebrations
• 17 christmas mornings together
• Too many falling outs with family members, most of them recovered from
• 3 beds (ours, not the kids)
• 4 painful betrayals from people we loved 
• About 1,000 jars of canned peaches
• 6 or so spiritual crisis
• 6 or so re-conversions
• 400 or so pounds gained and/or lost
• 1 deep freezer
• 1000 utterings (at least) of "What would I do without you?"