Life flashes by in a series of suddenlies.
Suddenly, the hubby and I are university students randomly meeting on a dance floor then start to date on March 8, 2003.
Suddenly, we’re moving in together then getting married. Suddenly, we have a little boy then navigating the horrors of a pandemic.
It’s impossible to capture all the memories from the last 20 years with someone I’ve spent nearly half my life with – and the cherished family and friends who were part of them.
So instead, for our anniversary today, I posted 20 photos, 1 photo highlighting each year.
It’s interesting to remember that there was a life before T – because, as a parent, you genuinely do forget you once had a life! 😂
A life before the words FASD became part of our vocabulary – and that despite the challenges, our lives are now richer thanks to T.
To be reminded that through all the highs and lows, we can count on each other – and that together, we are more.
And the steps the hubby and I took individually and together before we became T’s parents will help us through this rollercoaster life with T.
And here are a few highlights from our life of suddenlies:
2003 – Our first Pride together. I sort of miss staying out late and buying sausages for $3 at 3 am from the street corner and covering it with lots of pickles – or going for cheap Chinatown eats at 4 am. If I did that now, I’d need a week to recover.
2004 – We celebrated graduating from university with our first trip together – and tandem skydiving in Cuba. I made the embarrassing mistake of asking the woman in the pink if she was the mother helping out in the office. She told me I was jumping off the plane with her. 😂 Good thing she didn’t untether me up in the sky.
2008 – Our first overseas trip together – visiting Beijing, Hong Kong and Philippines. The Great Wall of China was amazing. My Pa, who is a proud Chinese, passed away two months before our trip. He would’ve enjoyed hearing about our trip.
2010 – Our first time visiting Europe – stopping by Paris and Switzerland. Ma came with us! 🙂 This was on a tram traveling up the breathtaking Alps to Jungfraujoch, 8,000 feet above sea level.
2012 – An unforgettable 14 days in India.
2013 – Atop the Eiffel Tower – after touring the UK with the hubby’s parents. This is one of my favourite photos.
2015 – Visiting amazing Macchu Piccu in Peru.
2016 – And the year the little guy entered our lives – and the year we started to age rapidly. 😆😂
And the story continues…
What a lovely post and wonderful pictures to enjoy, after discovering your journal here. Speaking as a fellow father, it sounds like you two are doing a wonderful job raising T, you sound like amazing dads and it was inspiring to peruse some of your posts in the wP reader, tonight. I loved the one about T cliffjumping, wow!!!
-Jason
Thank you Jason for dropping by. The cliff jumping was a wonderful experience indeed. Welcome to WP!
I LOVED everything about this post!!!!! the photos, your history, the way you wrote suddenlies – It reminds me of the song from Come From Away – thanks for sharing! My husband pretty much refuses to fly (explanation for RV) and I hate to fly but will do it – this limits our travel out of the US and Canada – it’s great that you and hubby have had so many travel experiences… Thanks for sharing your story – when’s the book coming out!!!
Thanks Vickie. 🙂 Your travels have been fun to follow and to read about – and while limited to US and Canada, you’ve seen so many beautiful experiences and there are many more ahead.
I wish I had more time to write and blog – much less even think about a book. 😆 Maybe one day. And if I were to write one about my parenting journey, it’d be fun to get T involved as a co author. Maybe in a few years! 😊
Oh, T, getting involved would be great!!!
Happy Anniversary you two! I don’t know if I am more envious of all the places you have seen or the fact that you don’t look any older!
Hahaha, thanks Diane. If you look at photos from 2016 onward, the year we adopted T, we definitely aged rapidly from that point onward. I have quite a lot of gray now. Haha.
Oh my goodness, your photos are beautiful. Congratulations Ab.
Thank you, LaDonna. 😊 It was wonderful to look through photos I haven’t looked at in years. Hope you are doing well!
My favorite is the last picture with matching shoes😁what a series of suddenlies….. beautiful photos as well 💯
Thank you Faith! It was a photo shoot we did as a family to celebrate his adoption. The hubby coordinated us and our footwear. 😊
What a wonderful tribute to your beautiful relationship. It looks like you and hubby have had many great experiences together. May there be many, many more! ❤️
P.S. I’m SO impressed you went skydiving! Many of our friends went skydiving to celebrate my husband’s birthday several years ago, but I was too chicken to do it! Way to go! 🙂
Thank you. We’ve been truly blessed and something I will never take for granted.
I hear ya on the skydiving. Definitely one of those I was young once things. Would not dare to do so today! 😆
Happy 20 years! Here’s to many more! It’s like what Kenney Chesney says in his song “Don’t Blink”
Thank you! And Kenny Chesney is great.
Happy Anniversary! I loved the progression of your life in pictures. I love that you shared those trips with family, and that you are sharing them with us now. Here’s to the next twenty years and many more!
Thanks Margie. I’m thankful for these memories and moments and yes, also thankful we got to travel with our parents while they are young and able.
Take care and enjoy the weekend! 😊
Happy 20th anniversary to you and the hubby! What a lovely idea to post 20 photos to showcase some of the memories from your time together. I must say, it’s fun to see how much you’ve both changed over the years!! You’ve certainly gone on many adventures together and here’s hoping for many more in the years to come! Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the March Break next week!
Thanks Linda. I did a “10 years” album in 2013 and it was surreal doing another. The time really just flew by.
Speaking of adventures, we’re finally off to our March Break trip. So excited. We’ve been counting down since last May. 😆
Enjoy your weekend and March Break too!
That’s so exciting! I’m sure you’ll be happy to leave all this nasty snow behind. Enjoy your holidays with your family. We’re babysitting one of our nephews for the weekend, which should be both fun and exhausting at the same time.
Ab, these are sooo cute! Happy anniversary! How nice you still have the photos of both of you since the year you met your future husband. Photos are indeed invaluable when it comes to reminiscing the days that have long gone. They remind us of moments we’d otherwise have forgotten. Here’s to 20 more years together! And many more years after that!
Thanks Bama! 😊 I don’t usually look back at photos too often so it was nice to dig through the photos (back before phone cameras existed!). There were many moments I forgot about. So it was wonderful to be reminded of them.
First of all, let me just say … 🎈 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! 🎈
I LOVE all these pictures!!! You guys have been soooooo many places! And you look so happy … a beautiful family! Here’s to the next 20 ‘Suddenlies’ and then another 20 after that!!!
Thanks Jill! It was nice to take a walk back memory lane. Not all moments in life are happy, as you know, but I try to focus on the many happy ones and feel so thankful for them.
And yes, here’s to the next 20!
No, life is not perfect and we cannot always be happy, but perhaps it is the trials and tribulations that make us appreciate the happier moments more. Cheers to you both! 🥂
Aw so lovely! Happy Anniversary!
Thank you Caitlyn!
Wow, such a beautiful journey Ab! Even with the occasional storms life throws us, you two (& T)🥰 continue to navigate through it all with grace.
Blessings to you & your family my friend.
Thank you Tammy! There’s been a fair share of storms, but we try to focus on the sunny days – and as I’ve learned in life, that is true grace … and what a blessing that is. 😊🙏
This just filled my heart with joy! Congratulations on 20 beautiful, adventure-packed, love-filled years! Wishing a lifetime more of the same! ❤️✨
Thank you! 😊🙏
Ab, this is a touching and wonderful post! Thanks for the glimpse into your journey for someone new to the blog and for sharing how you continue to make these moments work everyday. I’m envious of all the things you’ve been able to experience!
Thank you Deb! We’ve been so blessed to have had our adventures. Kids change everything of course so the adventures are of a different but equally rewarding kind these days!
A series of suddenlies- what a great post title and way to celebrate 20 years together! Wow – you two have had so many great adventures. I love this sentence – “We celebrated graduating from university with our first trip together – and tandem skydiving in Cuba.” That’s a lot of action packed in one sentence! And you story about asking the instructor if she was a secretary. Funny!
Such great fun and awesome memories. Thank you for sharing them. And congrats on 20 wonderfully full years – one suddenly at a time!
Thanks Wynne! 😊 That Cuban skydiving story was so mortifying. I still cringe at the memory of asking that woman if she was helping out her sons in the office. 😂 But the plane part itself was really fun. I would never have the guts to do that these days though. So live while we’re young and foolish! 😆
Great conclusion to live when we’re young and foolish! Exactly!