Those were the Days

Today is our 11th wedding anniversary! Last year we celebrated our first decade of marriage with a whimsical trip through Iceland, Sweden and Norway. (Sigh, we miss traveling). We wanted to give you a personal glimpse into our relationship and history. I (Jo) am sharing the poem I wrote to Tim for our anniversary last year:

Morning dawns in a studio apartment in Logan Square.
We struggle to get going, because newlyweds want to stay in that newly found sacred space forever.
But eventually, we find ourselves lacing up running shoes and out on those city streets.
Those were the days,
Of marathons and city lights, of bus rides and train rides, of strategic grocery trips that took half the day.
Those were the days of sweet, tender love and hitting snooze so many times, we were late for church.
Those were the days of planning, of hoping and dreaming of far off lands and adventure to come.


A rooster crows in the havlee, the trickling water awakens our minds to a new day in that distant land.
We learn to live the real life, with firewood and gardening and inconsistent electricity and layers of culture pressing in.
Those were the days,
Of simple pleasures, of uncovering language and thus new friendships, of feeling so lost and yet deeply found.
Those were the days of isolation and struggle, of depression, and the stripping of our naivety. 
Those were the days of new life, a budding hope for the future.


Silence.
All we wake to is silence.  Painful silence.  The sun invades our dark grief, and we bid it to leave us.  We didn’t ask to wake to silence.
Those were the days
Of emptiness and tears.  Of deep pain and the deepening of our souls.
Those were the days, of empty calendars and vanishing dreams, a burning away of all our plans and a future we longed for.
Those were the days of surprising forever friends and conversations that melted into midnight.


A tiny squeak, a gentle twitch.  Sleeplessness is heavy, but that tiny beautiful soul greets us again.  The nights are ever long, but we are captured by her beauty, by her essence.
Those were the days of trying to find our footing, of disrupted sleep and the beckoning of coffee.
Those were the days of quiet whispers of love, the joy of watching life unfold through new eyes.


We stir to the cadence of the call to prayer, echoing from the dozens of mosques sprinkled around us.  Our tongues and ears adapt to new sounds and forms.  We learn to do life again in another language.  A new culture.
Those were the days of
Finding and making a home.  Of beholding God’s glory every morning through our window and picturesque runs by the water.
Those were the days of navigating the pazar and Kipa.  Of the richest olives and the freshest fruit.
Of exploring new and ancient lands with our curious toddler.  And celebrating the hope of another child to come.


One of us shushes the alarm and rolls into the running routine.  We savor the quiet of the morning, praying it lasts just long enough.  A little voice asking for eggs will soon trigger the endless cascade of the day’s demands.
These are the days
Of fullness.  Of stretching the hours and dollars and wondering how we’ll get to the other side.
These are the days of growing, investing and dreaming of another future.
These are the days of being awed by our inquisitive daughter and wooed by our charming son.
Of longing for more quiet moments for just us together, stealing away whenever we can.

These are the days, and there are more to come…