Still Choosing You

Some promises aren't made just once.

They're made over and over again.

Hidden within this painting of the Biltmore Estate is a tiny Easter egg marking the place where my husband, Matt, proposed. Knowing how much I loved the estate's history and architecture, he chose this spot for one of the most important moments of our lives. (He also thought he'd discovered a completely original proposal location—a detail that still makes us laugh.)

During our years in Asheville, we were season passholders and often wandered the Biltmore grounds after work. What began as the place where we became engaged gradually became woven into the story of our everyday life.

Years later, I began this painting just before our sixth frozen embryo transfer. Convinced we still had more waiting ahead of us, I assumed I'd have plenty of time to finish it.

I couldn't have been happier to be wrong.

Life suddenly became wonderfully full, and the painting patiently waited while we welcomed the little girl we'd dreamed and prayed for.

Through every season that followed, we continued choosing each other.

Today, it hangs in our bedroom as a quiet reminder that the most meaningful part of marriage isn't the day you say, "I do."

It's waking up each morning and still choosing each other.