A Walk to Remember – On Our 12th Anniversary

Our Wedding September 9, 2006

Our wedding 12 yrs ago

The walk I’m speaking of is the walk down the isle of a church that my wife and I took twelve years ago. And really, I’m writing not just of that walk, but of a journey… about the independent paths my wife and I traveled to get to that wedding day, and the walk we’ve taken hand-in-hand ever since.

My wife as a baby with her mother

My wife with her mother

We both lived in New York at various times in our lives, but never met. I’ve also lived in Vienna, Austria, and Amsterdam, in The Netherlands, and for a time my wife lived near Dublin, Ireland, which is where she was when we first met and became friends. As the song goes, “God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you.” It’s frightening to consider how very small the odds really were that these two babies pictured here ever met at all, but meet they did.

Me and my mother as a baby

Me and my mother

The friendship that began 14 years ago with an ocean between us (she was in Ireland and I was in Texas) eventually grew into a love… with just a country between us (she in New York and I in Dallas). 12 years ago she agreed to marry me and move to Texas making me the luckiest guy in the world. And then something happened that made me even luckier still.

Our baby newly born

Our new born baby

Our baby girl was born ten years ago. And so the cycle starts again, with a new baby picture and a walk down another unique path for my daughter… until one day she’s united in love and life with someone… someone who right now is simply a baby picture in another family’s album someplace in the world. Did you hear it… the orchestra just started playing “The Circle of Life” in the background. I better go now.  [sniff]

–A grateful husband and daddy (in Texas of all places)

40 comments

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  1. Awww- I am so glad the winding road brought me to you sweets. You are my best friend. I love you so much and am so grateful you are in my life.

    I can only hope that someday our lil pumpkin will find her perfect someone and love them as much as I love you:)

    Happy Anniversary:)

    1. I’m glad once that long and winding road brought you to Texas in the summer heat you didn’t turn tail and head back to New York or Ireland. LOL. You’re the love of my life and I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have two such lovely girls at home. Enjoy your day until I can get home from work and we can celebrate more properly. 🙂

  2. Awe….sniff, sniff….you guys are indeed the perfect couple and I am so very happy that the winding road placed you in each others arms! Happy Anniversary with love and hugs…M & D

    PS. your little pumpkin will surely find such happiness as well because she has amazing parents as role models!

    1. While there is no such thing as a perfect anything in life, my wife is as close to perfect as wife could be. And what is most important, is she makes me want to be the best man, husband and father I can be. One cannot hope for more than that sort of inspiration in a spouse. As for our wee pumpkin, I do hope we provide good role models for her. If she ever claims to be looking for a “man like daddy” I will be the proudest father in the land… and then I’ll tell her to aim higher. 😉

  3. Congrats on your anniversary! And what a sweet blog entry. . . All the best for the future! Ann

    1. Thank you, Ann. You’ve been my friend since Shannon’s days in Ireland, though we didn’t know my future wife was just a county or two away at the time. Have a great day!

  4. I have no idea but for some reason while I’m reading that I was humming ‘do you hear the people sing? Singing a song that never ends’… thats the only lines but its on repeat….. in my head:)

    I love hearing the details of a love story.
    D

    1. Aw, thanks Danielle. Ours is a wonderful love story to be sure. Though I don’t think I’d apply those lyrics to it. They are from Les Mis:

      Do you hear the people sing?
      Singing a song of angry men?

      I’m pretty sure they were singing this shortly before they were slaughtered. Not really the message I think you meant to send. 😉

  5. Awwwwww!!! Congratulations guys!!! I’m so glad that my wonderful friend found her soulmate!!! 🙂

    1. Back at you, Nikki! Martin and I are two lucky guys.

  6. Happy Anniversary to a perfectly matched couple! You two are certainly soulmates and I’m so happy you found each other. Sending lots of love from PA! xoxo

    1. Thanks so much, Laura. I remember your trip to Ireland to visit Shannon way in 2004. Who’d have thought back then that we’d both be married to two such wonderful people now. We are all very lucky. Sending love back at ya!

  7. What a beautiful love story! Happy Anniversary!

    1. Thanks so much, Esther. I laughed so hard at your “Sweet Nothings” blog recently. I’ll def have to try to stick to your hubby’s earlier sweet nothings.

  8. What a beautiful family you guys created! Makes me all swoony inside 🙂

    1. Thank you so much! They make me swoony on a daily basis. Love you blog. As I commented on the post about the steel frame and hand woven furniture our baby girl would love it… some look kinda Dr. Suess-like. Have a lovely weekend!

  9. This is a sweet post. I can say I Remember When…

    20 years of wedded bliss and 6 children later :o)

    1. You’ve no doubt created some wonderful memories with your husband and six children. Thanks so much for stopping by. I’m following you on GFC and Twitter. Thanks for hosting those linkys… that’s cool. I’m a newbie.

  10. I’ll have to tell my husband about your blog! He has a daddy blog too and often gets discouraged because there aren’t many male bloggers out there. Sweet post with your wife…we’re in Texas too.

    1. Please do. What is your husband’s blog? Love yours. Great tips in that packing for the hospital post, and wonderful photos! So happy you dropped by, Cristina.

    • Kerry McCullough on at
    • Reply

    Congratulations! Following you from the blog frog community. Mine is http://www.nestingwithniall.blogspot.com. Stop by any time 🙂

    1. Hello Kerry,

      Love your Halloween costume blog. Halloweens are so much fun with our wee girl (now just turned two). The first year she was only a few months old, but it didn’t stop us from dressing her up. LOL. Love the photos in your blog. Too cute. Thanks for stopping by my blog, btw. I’m following you on Networked Blogs and Google FC. Have a wonderful weekend!

      –Michael (aka: Daddy)

    • Daniel Costello on at
    • Reply

    Happy Anniversary to you both! Your shared story is inspiring and makes me smile whenever I think about it. Knowing that two people can be together and be so happy gives me hope for my own future. Thanks for that…

    To “Daddy”: I hope we get a chance to meet in person someday. It would indeed be a pleasure.

    D

    1. Thank you so much, Dan. As you know, I’m one seriously lucky guy, and I don’t ever take that for granted. Thanks so much for stopping by my humble little home on the web. I’m following your green education blog. Don’t you have another (or more?) site. Yes, we def need to meet in person the next time I’m in the City. I have this (possibly manufactured) memory of cabbing near your work place and seeing you smoking a cigarette outside. I’m so glad you quit. Anyway, I didn’t really register it at the time, just that the person looked familiar, and then later when Shannon told me where you worked I realized it might have been. Anyway, a more extended Daniel sighting is definitely in order.

  11. Stopping from Mom Loop. I loved reading your courtship story. We have already starting praying for the wife our son will marry some day.

    1. Thank so much for stopping by. That’s sweet you are already praying for your son’s wife. 🙂 I just checked and found I was already following you on Mom Loop, Facebook and Twitter. I sound like a stalker. Can you tell I’m a fan? Have a great weekend.

  12. Thanx for stopping by! I love your blog!

    1. You are very welcome… and thank you! Have a rockin’ weekend!

  13. Aw, what a wonderful story. Happy Anniversary. I love the pictures you included too – they really do make me start hearing the Circle of Life song. lol.

    Thanks for stopping by the Monthly Milestone meme and for sharing your milestone! I’ll be following you and hope you stop by again.

    1. Thanks so much, Denise. I’m a lucky guy. I left you another reply on Mom Loop. Yep, I’ll be waiting impatiently for your next blog, so you best get cracking. I’m following you on Twitter, too, btw. Have a great day!

  14. I found your blog from BF Mom Loop. What a beautiful story of your journey to find each other and the beginning of yet another journey as a family.

    1. Hello, Lori.

      Thanks so much for dropping by. Some of my wife Shannon’s (great name choice for your second son, btw) family were from Long Island, and in fact some have since moved to Buffalo. They didn’t follow you to FL or CO, however… more’s the pity. Hope you had a great day. Love you blog. I’m in higher education, so want to come back (it’s semester start) when things are more calm and read more of your posts. Have a night!

      –Daddy

  15. Happy belated anniversary!! What a great post about two soulmates! So glad you found her and convinced her to move to Texas! (of all places) =)

    1. I’m certainly a very lucky guy for so many reasons… not the least of which are the two lovely ladies with whom I have the honor to live. Thank you, Nicole.

  16. Congratulations to a beautiful couple! I wish you many, many more years and gray hairs together!

    1. Thanks so much, Rachel. I’m one lucky guy! As for the gray hairs, well, the sprinkling I’ve already got coming in are actually white. I call them my platinum highlights. 😉

  17. What a sweetie pie, Michael! Happy Anniversary to you both!

    No matter how rocky, muddy, sunny, stormy, happy, dark or scary the road becomes, hold on to each other every minute of every day. No one knows you both as deeply and completely as you know each other, because no one has spent the same time, energy, love and effort as you two have together.

    Lots of Love to you both, and here’s to the next 50 years!

    1. No matter how rocky, muddy, sunny, stormy, happy, dark or scary the road becomes, hold on to each other every minute of every day. No one knows you both as deeply and completely as you know each other, because no one has spent the same time, energy, love and effort as you two have together.

      What a sweet comment. Thank you for the sage advice. I love it.

    • Dorothy Higgins-O'Connor on at
    • Reply

    Love reading your love story and seeing Shannon with her beautiful Mom, Patsy…who was a very dear friend. No doubt Patsy had a hand in your meeting! Wishing you many, many, more happy & healthy years together.

    1. Thank you so much for your kind thoughts, Dorothy. It’s one of my largest regrets that I was never able to meet Patsy before she passed away.

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