Happily Ever After 19 years later

At the end of every fairy tale you hear "and they lived happily ever after...."  What does that mean?  I think back to the day  I married my best friend,  the man of my dreams and my knight in shining armor, and I smile as I say "We lived happily ever after."

Looking back 19 years I've realized I love him more today than I did then.  He has become such a part of me and my life that I don't think I could breathe if he wasn't with me.  He knows me so well that he knows what I want before I do.  He knows if I'll like a new food or a movie.  He knows me, and I know him so well I really do think of us as one.  I love him!!!

But happily ever after is just..... Well a fairy tale! 

Our lives have been filled with amazing ups and hard lows.  So as I sit here on the floor of my baby's room, I think back to the last 19 years and I have to ask what does happily ever after mean to us. And here it is...

2 and a half years of being poor starving students and living away from my mommy for the first time.  (Spent lots of money on long distance bills and gas.)

Lived out of the country for 4 months. 

12 and a half years being either pregnant or nursing.  

Years of infertility problems.  (Yes, you read that right)

17 years my hubby has been traveling for work.  ( Not cumulative!)

12 years spent potty training 6 kids. Hahaha (okay I'm exaggerating on this one)

Mounds of dirty laundry mountains and dirty dishes concurred.  

A heart breaking miscarriage 

Kids with speech delays, A.D.D and learning disabilities. 

Months, possibly years, of not getting a salary and living on food storage and savings.  

Amazing and fun family vacations that make us appreciate coming home. 

 I guess I can say we have lived happily ever after through all the ups and the downs.  Looking ahead the only thing I would add to our fairy tale is maybe a fairy god-mother, or just her magic wand.