'Bout a Boy and a Girl

Sunday, February 13, 2011

"I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.
I think happy girls are the prettiest girls,
and I believe in kissing, kissing a lot."
--Audrey Hepburn

Scott captured my heart from an early age. We were a meeting of minds and spirits, with the same laid-back approach to life. Ours was a courtship of play. We met when we were eleven--climbed trees and played kick-the-can in the yard.

All during high-school, Scott and I maintained a platonic relationship, writing each other and hanging out occasionally. The spring Scott turned seventeen, it softly turned into something more. We never really spoke about the transformation of our affections into love, but with that first hesitant joining of hands, it was a change mutually acknowledged and understood.

Scott and I were great friends long before we loved. Anger is uncommon between us.
I've always felt the day we quit playing together would be the day our relationship would begin to unravel.

Scott and I had been dating three years when my brother died, and the weight of that tragedy should have destroyed us. I knew when Scott asked me to marry him that the fabric of our relationship would always bear this flaw, yet we loved and were in love.

Even if I hadn’t already loved him, Scott would have been hard to walk away from; his commitment to our relationship through the gravity of my brother's death spoke volumes about his character. His loyalty was not some of who he was; it was all of who he was.

We are fire on kindling, he and I.
And though my heart has released its tight hold on Nathaniel’s memory, I face the daily choice of loving my husband, my children, my parents and friends, with the same intensity and devotion.
Love is, after all, the gift of one’s self.

My heart is very aware of the pain risked by offering myself
with abandon should another I love ever float away from me.
Ana Laura sings, “The secret of life is letting go. The secret of love is letting it show.”
I wish I could say letting go came effortlessly for me, but the stark reality is that the
balance of holding my husband and children with an open palm and loving them with crazy abandon remains my greatest battlefield—a fight that involves a single-minded purpose when my will and emotions clash on the front line.

As a defense mechanism, I want to retreat—to protect my heart from the shock of loss—
but it's not an option, not really.
Some may say I give myself too freely, but I chose to love,
in spite of the risk of losing and missing; because it's in the rash acts of loving—
of selflessly pouring myself out—that made me real, alive.
So, I cherish every moment with Scott, knowing tomorrow is never guaranteed, that every day is gold.

Happy Heart Day, mah dears!

27 comments:

  1. So sweet! Love the pictures and your outfit.

    ReplyDelete
  2. aww, this is such a sweet post Kristina. Reading your post made a little teary, but I smiled by the end of it. Your hair looks beautiful up in the braided upstyle, i love it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your pictures tell such a story - very heart warming post! Happy Valentines xo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well Kristina, you have done it again. You give so much of yourself in your writings. It is simply beautiful. Happy Valentines Day!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful post. Thank you so much for sharing this. You seem to have a very rare outlook on life and I'm so happy I stumbled onto your blog. You are such a beautiful person!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am not good with remember the authors of quote, quips and stories, but I have always appreciated the truth of this one: "Better to have loved and lost, than to have never known love at all!"

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gorgeous photos! I love this backdrop!

    These get me in the Valentine's mood :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful post! I love all of the photos, your hair looks amazing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Those are beautiful pictures!!! Your outfit is PERFECTTION!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. As always, I'm in love with this dress!! This is such a sweet post. What a beautiful couple you are!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love this Kristina! I love the pictures and your post. It is truly lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This was so lovely!!! Thank you for sharing :) You two seem great for each other and you have such an adorable family :)

    www.clothedmuch.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a wonderful story of your relationship! I love that you and Scott were friends first and for so long :) Your photos are also truly beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
    P.S I'm wearing that exact pair of Seychelles shoes you're holding in the first picture today! Great minds? :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Beautiful post! Thanks for sharing your love story.

    Your photos and styling are fabulous (as always)

    Kerri

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love the pictures, the story and how you were friends way before anything. Lovely post.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a beautiful story of daily choices to love...thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is such a beautiful chronicle of your relationship. And how wonderful that you have been in each other's lives since you were young children.

    ReplyDelete
  18. These are the cutest photos and you look great!
    -Meagan
    http://spunkychateau.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. Bea-u-ti-ful my dear! Stunning photos and beautiful words.

    ReplyDelete
  20. awwww these shots are adorable and I loved reading your story. That is amazing that you two grew up together and climbed trees together even. My husband and I often talk about how we would have been friends and had a thing for each other even when we were about three. I wish that were the case anyway. I am glad I first saw him when I was 15, talked to him/dated him at 16 so we did sorta grow up together but nothing like you two!!! That is adorable and amazing. I am glad that he helped you so much when you lost your dear brother. I know you've mentioned that hard time for you in the past too. It is great you had someone there for you throughout that situation. You two again look gorgeous here!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Can you notify me when you wish to sell that outfit?? lol!!! LOVE it!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love your article wall! so awesome. I did that once in a rental house, with book pages. It turned out awesome, but I feel bad for the person who decides they want to take it all down....it'll take them forever! Those pictures of you and your husband are so sweet. I loved reading about your history together. What an endearing story of true love. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  23. You are adorable. Just found your site after you commented on mine! Excited to find you! Love your site.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I'm totally in love with your blog! You have wonderful pictures and your style is lovely. Take a look at my blog; http://ciocolataneagra.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. Sweet, sweet post. (I really like your hair like that too!)

    ReplyDelete
  26. this post is amazing... and the pictures totally tell the story

    ReplyDelete

Kristina J. Copyright 2014

Kristina J. DIY Ideas | DIY Style All rights reserved © Blog Milk Powered by Blogger