life anniversary

Last year on December 9 I sat for three hours in Jonathan's dissertation defense completely in awe while Jonathan was made to answer mind numbing question after mind numbing question. He was quite brave and answered each question with confidence.

Then we waited. After each of the five committee members sufficiently grilled Jonathan they excused themselves to discuss his fate. Jonathan and I and a another friend waited in the hallway with uneasy anticipation.

If he didn't pass, he would not be able to accept the job offer he received earlier that week and have to completely redo his entire dissertation (years worth of work) or he could drop out and go find employment elsewhere.

After a few intense minutes (maybe about 15-- but felt way way longer) the door was opened and his advisor shook his hand and called him Dr! Imagine the relief and joy! After doing the polite thing with the committee members for a little bit and after we took a picture or two we walked down the hall to his office.

Once alone, we both let out a sigh of relief, followed by laughter and we jumped around and hugged and kissed like little kids. We did it! We did it! I think Jonathan was pumped full of adrenaline at this point and needed to get walking. Plus, we suddenly really needed to see our babies- so we walked home hand in hand- instead of catching the bus like we planned to earlier since it was freezing!

The walk home was magical and I will never forget it. It was just starting to get dark-about 5 o'clock. The air was crisp and cold and great big snowflakes just started to fall from the sky. We were giddy and in shock and so excited! The whole world suddenly opened up to us. He passed! He had a job! Could this moment finally have happened after all this time?? It was unbelievable.

We talked about the questions he answered and then about how we would now be gainfully employed and about how our lives would change and then over all those things again. No one but the two of us knew how hard it was to accomplish this goal and no one could be as excited about it as we were. It was a moment truly lived in.

When we got to our apartment, all the shades were up and all the lights were on. We could see the kids inside playing with their friends. They were happy and excited. When we opened the door Ezra called Jon "Dr. Dad!" and ran off laughing.

Happy happy memory.