Beautiful Darling

This week, my husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. I have spent more than half my life with him now but I think that in this period of our lives we are having more fun together than we have since we were first married. No longer having the pressure of raising small children, having a home where we have put down roots, having jobs that we both enjoy and a sharpened awareness of how easy it would be to lose each other, has resulted in us appreciating the things that we each bring to the relationship in a much deeper way. So although I am posting an outfit today, you will also have to tolerate my musing on a quarter of a century of marriage.

                                                     Top:Veronika Maine
                                                     Jeans: Just Jeans
                                                     Sandals: Wittner
This top has two layers, with the overlay having gathering at the neck. There is a lot of fabric and I was concerned that is was slightly overwhelming, but it is  quite light and I think the volume works well if paired with more structured bottoms as I have done here.

Here is a closer view of the neckline of the top and a snap of the "25" charm my husband bought me as an anniversary gift. He received the traditional wedding anniversary present of a home-made lemon meringue pie. I would have taken a photo, but 2 days later very little remains!

When we got married, we stood before our family and friends and made a series of promises that neither of us knew we would be able to keep. "For richer or poorer" is possibly not a big stretch when you are a 22 year old student and have never had a lot of money, but the reality of "in sickness and in health" is almost unimaginable to young, fit, healthy people who have never suffered anything more serious than a cold. Likewise, there is a happy naivety in promising "in good times and in bad" without having any understanding of how bad things could be.

However, I think those vows expressed not only blind (some would say foolish) optimism, but also a faith in each other. Faith that our spouse would be there, even when our world was falling apart. Belief that we had the strength to face whatever troubles life brought to our door. Trust that our love and commitment to each other would be enough. And so far, it has been. Thank you, my beautiful darling, for believing in us.

Beautiful Darling by Kate Miller-Heidke