Cheers to Five Years

We've all heard someone say (or seen posts on facebook, twitter, instagram, etc) something along the lines of... "I have the best husband in the whole world!" I am glad that so many women are blessed to have such great guys in their lives. And yes, I have said that phrase myself and will say it again... I have the best husband in the whole world... or perhaps just in MY world (because who am I to say my husband is better than yours). Jeff is the perfect man in MY world.
I have been truly blessed with a husband so perfect that I couldn't have gotten one better if I sat down and created him myself. Rather than getting all mushy and lovey-dovey with pet names and sweet little things he has done for me, I want to share our reality with you. As we approach our anniversary I can't help but think back on the time we've been together. My what a journey it has been. We have been given more trials (I'm talking big, big ones) in our five years together than some people have in their entire lives.
In five years we have experienced huge, life altering events that will forever change the way we think and the way we approach things that come our way in this life. Things I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. I will touch on a few but please know that just seeing a quick sentence on a blog will in no way truly express the feelings, emotion and stress involved in each of these obstacles.
- We have faced the ugliness of Jeff's dad struggling with alcoholism & the heartache of having him walk out of the lives of his kids and grand kids.
- We tried for 7 1/2 months to get pregnant with our first child and once we were finally successful, I was put on bed rest from 13 weeks through the duration of the pregnancy, worrying the entire time that we would lose the baby. I don't know that our midwife even thought it would work out.
- My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer approximately one month before we found out we were pregnant with our first child.
- Once our baby was finally ready to come to this world, he swallowed meconium and had to be in the NICU for a week with ventilators, oxygen, feeding tubes, etc.
- My mom faced cancer two more times after the original diagnosis, going through chemo and treatments each time.
- We had our second child with no pregnancy problems but the night after having her I had a central retinal vein occlusion (blood clot in my eye that hemorrhaged) and am now virtually blind in my right eye.
- My mom's cancer came back a fourth time and she was very, very ill. We pretty much lived at my parent's home for a little over a month so I could help care for her.
- My mom passed away.
- Jeff broke his hand days before my mom passed and had to have pins put in it.
- We spent months going through my mom's things trying to divide them and then figure out what to do with what we were keeping.
- And now, yesterday, I found out from my doctor that down the road, because of complications from the existing problems in my eye, there is a possibility that I could lose my entire eye and have to get a prosthetic.

Yes, folks, this has all happened just since Jeff and I got married. Actually, it has all happened in the last 4 of the 5 years we've been married. And sadly, I actually left out some events just for the sake of space on this blog and your time reading it.
I know there are guys out there that would have run for the hills by now after all of this stressful craziness that I now just refer to as "my life". If they didn't actually run, they'd at least wish they could. Instead of running away from my health problems, drama, heartache & my insanity, he sits next to me, closer than ever with his arm around me, asking what he can do to make things easier for me. I usually (tearfully) respond with something like, "I'm sorry I'm such a mess." In which he replies, "You're not a mess. I love you and I'm here for you."
Earlier in this post I said Jeff is the best husband in my world but what I should have said is that he IS my world. My kids are my world and that is all that matters. We have survived all of the challenges we've been faced with. We survived them because of love. Jeff and I love each other. We love our kids. Our kids love us. What more can we ask for? I have learned that with love you can achieve anything. You can conquer even the most challenging moments in your life with love on your side.
I don't know what I would do without Jeff in my life. And whether he likes it or not, he's stuck with me for eternity. So here's to hoping the worst is behind us and that the best is yet to be.
Happy Anniversary, Jeff. I love you!