Two years of picnics

by alda on July 8, 2008

Today EPI and I are celebrating our second wedding anniversary. Huzzah!

Two years since we walked down the isle in the Toronto City Hall, which – truth be told – was more like the corridor to the bathroom in a Vegas chapel than the route to the altar. Not that it mattered. We were just as psyched.

EPI and I met about 12 years ago, when I’d been back in Iceland for about a year. He started working at the company where I was working and we had an instant rapport. It wasn’t exactly love at first sight, but definitely like at first sight. EPI was one of the funniest people I’d ever met, plus he was really nice, and soon it seemed like coffee breaks just weren’t the same if he wasn’t around. Our friendship slowly developed into something deeper and before we both knew it we were crazy about each other.

It was pretty complicated, though, at first. EPI was going through a separation and had three beautiful daughters that he was very close to and which he adored. Meanwhile, I had a string of failed relationships behind me and wasn’t very good with the trust thing. Plus there were all these other people involved, and tattered emotions all over the place. There were lots of times when I honestly thought we were not going to make it, and many times when we tried to walk away. But it was one of those things. There was no walking away. We had this intense bond, and in the end we realized there was really no choice. We had to make it work.

And we have! I sometimes can’t believe how beautifully it’s all worked out, considering. I mean, having a relationship is hard enough [sometimes I just don’t know how people have relationships at all! …], to say nothing of the tender and complicated emotions when there are children brought into the mix … in all honesty, I used to think it was impossible. There are so many things that can go wrong, at every stage in the game, so many pitfalls, it can be like walking in a landmine zone. Truly, I often think it’s a miracle for two people to actually make a relationship work. Either that, or a fluke.

Mind you, we have - and had - a lot of good things going for us – our wonderful daughters, for one, who are all blessed with very generous, positive, sensible and sweet dispositions. I know from my own experience how easy it is to become bitter and resentful and feel victimized and all the rest of it in a broken-family situation, and miraculously they have not gone down that road, which is such a blessing – for everyone concerned. Instead they are embracing life and have their own aspirations and interests. They’re making their own lives work.

Anyway, two [or 12!] years on it just keeps getting better. EPI is still my favourite company in the whole world and after all those ups and downs we’ve now reached a plateau where, yes, sometimes there are challenges, but mostly there are just picnics.

GORGEOUS SUNNY DAY TODAY
Clear and brilliant blue sky, not a cloud visible at the moment, temps 12°C [54F], sunrise 3.22 am, sunset 11.41 pm.

{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }

1 pierre l 07.08.08 at 11:51 pm

A lovely post. Congratulations on your anniversary to you both.

2 Jon 07.09.08 at 12:28 am

Congratulations! Ain’t it funny how things work out? From the stories you tell, I think I would like EPI, too. Of course, not in the same way you do!

3 andrea 07.09.08 at 12:43 am

Beautifully said! Congratulations and thanks for the reminder (ours is in 3 days).

4 Bluegrass Mama 07.09.08 at 1:48 am

Happy anniversary! You have such a wonderful way of telling your life stories. And the girls are all gorgeous!

5 Cassie 07.09.08 at 2:37 am

Happy Anniversary! I can say, having met both of you together, that you’re a wonderful couple. This was really a beautiful post, Alda, and your affection shines through beautifully. Congratulations, and many more happy anniversaries for the future!

6 Dumdad 07.09.08 at 8:08 am

What a lovely post. Congratulations and Happy Anniversary.

7 mary 07.09.08 at 8:32 am

Happy times to you!

8 alda 07.09.08 at 9:50 am

Thank you everyone! :)

9 Scoats 07.09.08 at 10:46 am

Happy Anniversary!

For those of us who came in late, maybe a post explaining what EPI stands for?

10 alda 07.09.08 at 11:59 am

Scoats - they’re just his initials. Very simple.

11 Auður 07.09.08 at 12:17 pm

Til hamingju!!

12 Keera 07.09.08 at 5:00 pm

Other commenters have already said it in English, so I won’t translate the Norwegian: Gratulerer med bryllupsdagen!

13 Runa 07.09.08 at 7:18 pm

Glad it’s all worked out so well.

Happy Anniversary!

14 Jessie 07.09.08 at 7:41 pm

Congratulations and happy anniversary! What a wonderful post. I haven’t been following your blog for too long yet, but you all seem like such a happy, lovely bunch. It’s always good to be reminded that true love can and does exist.

15 Sigga 07.09.08 at 11:27 pm

Well done! What you have takes plenty of work and a lot of compassion and trust… gives one trust in the human disposition!

16 Karen* 07.09.08 at 11:39 pm

Congratulations! I hope you have many more happy years together.

17 VioletSky 07.10.08 at 2:56 am

Congratulations. What a lovely post.

18 tk 07.10.08 at 3:47 pm

Congratulations, Alda!

19 linguaphile 07.10.08 at 7:29 pm

Congrats, Alda! We are in our 11th year of our relationship and are about to celebrate our 5th anniversary this fall. I know what you mean about the strange nature of relationships, but we all seem to be drawn to them like moths to light, right? I’m always glad to hear real and honest discussions from people in relationships that work, because there are sadly not many examples I’ve seen. I’m glad that you and EPI have found something wonderful and that I have too.

20 James 07.10.08 at 9:22 pm

Congratulations! And so glad to hear you were married in my city! But why here and not in some beautiful Icelandic locale?

21 Morgan 07.12.08 at 1:49 am

Beautiful. I hope I am able to write a similar post one day.

22 Rozanne 07.12.08 at 6:01 pm

Congrats!

23 maja 07.13.08 at 6:29 am

Happy anniversary!

24 Chris 07.29.08 at 12:00 pm

Congratulations. Very nice told story (one of the reasons why I appreciate reading your blog). And together with the rest very nice for a lunch break, while my colleagues are still on vacation.

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