seven words that changed my life

There are moments in your life when the words you hear hang in the air, like the words in cartoon speak bubbles.

"You've been accepted."

"Will you marry me?"

"It's a boy."

"It's a girl."

But there are seven words that I will remember for the rest of my life. I hear them exactly ten years ago today. They mark a pivotal moment when I met the man of my dreams. I walked up to him, he shook my hand and said "It's so nice to finally meet you!" I remember that we were outside. The weather in Evanston that day was nice enough for just a fleece jacket. As I walked and talked and heard more about this guy, I thought it sounded like his life was already full enough, that he didn't seem to need another friend, especially some random girl like me.

Ten years later, we have built a life together. I watch as he bends over to take the trash bag full of diapers out of the diaper pail and out to the curb. I see him carry out children into church, one on each arm. I stop what I'm doing to stare at him the first time he wears a sweater each fall beause it reminds me of how he looked that first fall when I met him, exactly ten years ago today.

Those seven words hang in the air. And I love the man who spoke them to me.