10/02/2026
On this day 26 years ago, I somehow talked you into saying yes to forever. Yes, regardless of what might come. Yes to the good times and the bad, the victories and the disappointments, the laughter and the tears. You said yes to the 19-year-old me standing in front of you with more dreams than answers, and somehow, you were willing to believe in those dreams with me. But what I understand now is that you weren’t only saying yes to the man I was that day. You were saying yes to every version of me I had yet to become. The 30-year-old me. The 45-year-old me. And, God willing, the 84-year-old me who will still reach for your hand and wonder how I ever got lucky enough to have you reach back.
Twenty-six years later, we’ve lived through some of the things we dreamed about and survived some things we never could have imagined. We’ve built a life, raised a family, fallen, gotten back up, changed, grown, and somehow kept choosing each other through it all. If I could go back and stand beside that 19-year-old kid on our wedding day, I’d tell him he has no idea what her “yes” is going to mean. No idea how many times it will save him, strengthen him, inspire him, and remind him who he is. And if I’m blessed enough to make it to 84, I hope I’m still looking at you the way I do today, grateful that all those years ago, when forever was still an unknown, you looked at me, believed in us, and simply said yes. Happy 26th anniversary Marina Peterson