4 Years!

When I first met my husband, I was really sick. I felt like I was drowning. Doctors were having difficulty diagnosing my illness, I weighed only 90 lbs, and I was literally wasting away. I had the thought, though, that I would find someone who would save me from 'drowning' and love and support me through the pain. Without sounding too contrived or cheesy, Benjamin is that person. When we first started dating, I was scared to tell him I was really sick. But when I finally got up the courage to tell him the details of what I was dealing with, his immediate response was "Well then I'll take care of you." This week was our 4 year anniversary! Yeah! I don't want to gush too much (it embarrasses him) but I feel like he deserves lots of applause!

Our early years of marriage have been far from normal. Benjamin has spent most of his 20's as my caretaker. I’ve always been a very independent person so it hasn’t been easy for me, but I am so grateful for him. When I’ve questioned my worth or when others sometimes would look at me with misunderstanding, Benjamin has reassured me and told me I was amazing. He is unfailingly supportive. He's sacrificed so much for me and for our marriage. He's given up awesome well paying jobs that he loves, to go work retail with a Master's degree, so that we can have good health benefits. He works long hours to support our family. He put his schooling on hold and moved with me to a place where I could get better care. He is the most loving, selfless, patient, hard working, and amazing person I know. I feel blessed he chose to marry me!

Let me share a quote that has helped strengthen both me and Benjamin. Elder Orson F. Whitney wrote: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God..."(quoted in Improvement Era Mar. 1966, 211).