“I kept asking why it seemed as though we can do anything…
because hardly anyone ever does…”
There are a few moments that I can definitively look back and feel the significance of. Moments that changed the very core of who I was. A few of these memories feel like a dream, like the glimmers of light that slip through your eyelashes as you dose off in the summer afternoon: I remember them, but just barely.
And there are others where I am lucky enough to have recorded the day.. and as such, I’ve never forgotten October 8th, 2010 in all it’s detail and the way it has affected me still nearly a decade later.
For the past 5 years as we have built our business, I constantly felt like I was the dreamer.. the one pushing us forward. The reality though is Andrew has always been the one dreaming with me, and not just dreaming, but making them come true.
Friday, October 8th, 2010
St. Malo, France
“Let me tell you the highlight of my day, perhaps even the trip…
We came to St. Malo, and our hotel is so old, but just beautiful.. after dinner we all decided to go down to the beach. On our way- right across from the beach we both saw this little stone cottage at the exact same time. It was picture perfect- everything I had ever dreamed of. It had a stone wall ( a short one) going around it with a little wooden gate in the middle. It opened to a short rock pathway, leading to an old wooden door. The house was lined with hydrangeas, purple ones. 🙂 (and the stone wall with roses.. pinks and yellows mostly) From the little light we had left from the street we could see some of the windows on the other side of the house, and they were etched glass! This house is just marvelous.. perfect really… and being right across from the beach!! We went across the way and sat down on a little bench overlooking the ocean. It was so calm and beautiful.. when I looked up I could see the big dipper. The stars were so bright.. and you could see so many! Even more so than in Minnesota. more than i can ever remember seeing in my life. I wish all of the world was like that. I would spend countless hours looking at them.. i love the stars so much partly because they remind me of how wonderful and artistic.. mysterious and powerful God really is. and how much he loves me.. the stars feel so complex… he placed each one specifically in the sky and yet he loves me more than they…
Andrew and I stared at the stars… talking about our future.. would it really be possible for us to live in France? I hope with all that is in my heart we will make that little cottage ours. He would whisper in my ear, things we would have and do together, and then gently kiss me as I was lying in his lap. I never wanted to move from that spot. I kept asking why it seemed as though we can do anything… because hardly anyone ever does…
I feel like with Andrew we can do anything- everything really, l’ve never felt so wonderful…
I’ve never believed fairytales really do come true. I hope and pray that everything we dreamt tonight on that little bench will become reality. I want to be his one and only -his wife. I want to learn French and buy that little cottage on the seaside. I want to be able to walk my children up and down the beaches of France, and take them to see all of the wonderful things their parents discovered in October 2010. I want that chance so very badly.
Eventually.. we got up and went down to the sand. We both took our shoes off and drew a little box- with my footprints and his, and A+M above it. Andrew started to spell out “I love you” but he let me finish it. 🙂
We ran up along the beach, chasing the tide. Andrew picked me up a few times and threatened to throw me in. But i trusted he wouldn’t 🙂 When we were going back, he gave me a princess ride to my shoes. Coming back up, we stopped at the house one last time. It was going to be ours one day.. we decided it then…
We both looked at each other and instantly our faces were bright. I’ve never been so excited or eager in my life.”
