christmas

i’m so grateful for christmas again. a year ago is such a blur. it’s like the entire community barely celebrated last year, how could they, and we’re all making up for it now. it’s really wonderful. ian is finally far enough that in hindsight we’re able to celebrate a bit more how much has been done. it’s amazing how in the wake of a natural disaster, life becomes a blur. it’s inevitable. the shock and exhaustion that consumes a whole community for a year. even the wedding and engagement is such a blur to me now. and for a year now i’ve been meaning to write down exactly what happened on december 27…

well, I guess the story technically starts that september, when me, h, s, and m were all in tennessee. it was the boys’ first time visiting and meeting some of the family, and the trip had been full of pals, pretty fall hikes, card games and probably some football. it couldn’t have been going better. on one particular day we decided to go to irwin to hike this waterfall trail we’d read about. finding the trailhead took quite a while, but eventually we did, and the beginning of the trail was very beautiful and mossy. none of us realized just how steep it was going to be. so we hiked and hiked, and stopped many times along the way. there were several nice spots that we thought about stopping and turning around at—none of us were sure just how far the top would be and if the view would be worth it. at one point we thought we may had reached the top because the rest of the trail upwards looked rocky and a little unkempt. but h and I decided to keep going. so we climbed and climbed, and then, we turned the corner and were struck with this beautiful waterfall oasis. it was a stunning moment, seeing this grand quiet spot hidden in the middle of irwin, Tennessee. it was a haven. amazed and in awe, h and I sat below the waterfall and took in our wonder. we kept exclaiming to each other how incredible it was, and then it got quiet. and as I looked out among one of the most beautiful sights i’d ever seen, I heard h say, “I will marry you someday.”

fast forward to when we arrived back in fort myers. h was having chest pains, and we spent the night in the hospital until five am. just a few hours later in the morning, sirens went off downtown and someone in the streets shouted in a megaphone to evacuate. so we spend the next two or three days at my parents’ house. I remember when the flooding started, we were both so grateful to have each other. that night as everyone slept on blow up mattresses in the floor h and I whispered to one another until we both finally became sleepy.

I remember one night on our way to visit my family in the condo, h and I were talking about marriage at publix. “you’re going to have to ask my dad you know,” I said. and when he smiled and said he already had, I fell to the floor in disbelief…

anyway, we went back to tennessee the day after christmas. and on our first day in town, k, j, m, s, h, and I had all decided to hike the falls again, on account of the fact that k had never seen it I was told. the water was frozen this time, and snow still remained along the trail, which made this hike especially beautiful. I remember at one point I had stopped to look at something, and h told me to hurry and I was like what the heck, lol. I was especially sleepy that morning. well, we got to the top and the waterfall was frozen over, it was gorgeous. I was wandering around and h came up to me and hugged me. then he said that he had my last christmas present. I immediately thought he was giving me a sweater. but instead he pulled out a little wooden box, and he got on one knee right there, and I was in shock! I was like, oh my gosh really you did all of this and he was like yea well you’re pretty gullible. we talked for quite a while. he explained how he had pulled it all off and how he had made the box he was holding. and then he held my hand and said, “this represents my promise—well not yet, but—my future promise to always love you…” and he said that God has given him a beautiful piece of nature to love and take care of forever. to always be with him.

it was absolutely lovely. and this year has followed, and what a good year it has been.