Let me tell you, we know romance.

We finally made time for a date night. It was sweaty, steamy and exhausting. It wasn’t something we had planned, but it left us more connected than I’ve felt in a long time.

Our six mile walk- (what? what were you thinking?) finally gave us the space we needed to just be together. Nothing spectacular happened, but I’m proud of us on a number of levels.

Tonight, we took a step toward each other. That’s important and too often it’s something that gets overlooked in the wake of kids and work and daily demands. We didn’t go to a movie- we didn’t drown out the awkwardness that sometimes comes alongside intentional connection. We choose connection.

Instead we walked next to each other, taking turns pushing the stroller and swatting mosquitos off one another. We talked about real things. Not necessarily big things, but little things that make us human. We talked about the things that make us more than parents and spouses, but things that speak to our individuality. Things that remind us that we exist beyond those roles and remind us why we were drawn together in the first place.

He walked with me. Not ahead of me or moving away from me in search of distance. Even though I am not nearly as beautiful as I used to be, and even though he is more handsome than he has ever been, he still chose to walk with me.

I was reminded of how pure and simple his love is for me. A fact so powerful it hurts my heart. Like an elephant in a doorway, his love pushes its way into my heart and I have to painfully grow and stretch beyond my self-doubts and insecurities to let it all in.

I walked with him. Even though it was hard and the hills were brutal, I am still here to walk beside him. I am a different person than I was, and I have a long long way to go, but I am still here and I still choose to walk with him. Even when it hurt, even when I was tired, even when I wasn’t sure my body could take another step, I still walked with him.

We walked, pushing the stroller, tending to the tiny baby who somehow found us. We walked as a complete family. We were a little wobbly, a bit disheveled, but present. All of us. Together forever.

Give ‘Em Hell