No matter how much time goes by, I'll always remember us young.

There was flirting; the borderline inappropriate kind because we worked in a restaurant.

There were booty pinches at the host stand.

There were slow waist-grabs from behind, every single time we passed by one another.

There were whispers and neck kisses about all of the things we wanted to do to one another.

There were love notes left on cars, the kind in which you speculate on your future together.

There were bars and heavy drinking.

TOO.

MUCH.

DRINKING.

There were slow dances and sexy dances, and, no, we didn't leave space for the holy spirit.

There were concerts, like Lennard Skynard and my homemade short as fudge denim skirt.

There was Jamaica where we swam, napped, drank and sexy-timed our way through our 10-day honeymoon.

There were clubs and fancy restaurants where we wasted time making memories by spending money we didn't have.

There were fights and makeups and heck, there still are.

There were jobs and school, and now there are jobs, and it's the kids who are going to school.

There were graduations and celebrations -- then ours, now theirs.

There were kids, and there was the making of those kids, and there still are kids.

SO.

MANY.

KIDS.

Three to be exact; three fruits of our love labor.

There was fun, and there still is.

There was life, but our present one is even better.

Where innocence once existed, there now is experience.

Where there once was hope, hope remains.

There was faith, and by God, there still is, and it's what has kept us together for eleven years.

You know, no matter how much time goes by, I'll always remember us young.

Yet, here we are today.

Old as dirt and getting older.

There is gray.

There are wrinkles.

There are aches and pains.

There are headaches.

There is stress.

There is a lack of patience.

There is noise.

There is silence.

There is frustration.

There is guilt.

There are kids and pets -- many of both.

There are responsibilities galore.

There are tasks.

There are grievances.

There is change; a lot of it.

But, no matter how much time goes by, I'll always remember us young because back then there was you and me, and, hey, look at that, there's still you and me.

And, there's still hope and faith.

No matter how much time goes by, I'll always remember us young, but I like us old just the same.

It's different, our relationship, and so are we from those once highly-spirited, love-crazed and fearless characters we once were, but I'm awfully fond of and impressed with not just what we have overcome, but who we have become, individually and together.

This is our marriage...unfiltered.