Sundays

I've just finished my bowl of grits. It's a must have on weekends; usually on Saturdays but sometimes on Sundays. They have to be made the same way every time, too: milk, salt, pepper, butter and cheese - LOTS of cheese.

After making the bowl of grits, it's on to the computer to read the headlines, find out what's new in the world. Then the rising sun will sneak in through the window and I'll know it's time to wrap up my breakfast, clean up my mess and head back to bed for a little while.

I'm really not that lazy. I like to get up early now - and don't tell my mother that! I usually wake up around 4 on the weekends. After an hour or two of feeling restless and failing to doze back to sleep, I have to get up and do something - anything to get the aching out of the side of my body that has been pressed against a matress for the last six or seven hours. I've been getting up all week at 1:30 in the morning so I could get ready for work and hit the road for an hour-long drive to work.

You lose more than just daylight hours working a shift like this. You lose time. Time spent with my husband is very precious to me. I get back in the bed when the light creeps through the house so I can spend some time lying next to him, listening to him breathe, thinking about how lucky I am. He'll wake up shortly after I crawl back under the sheets and I get the satisfaction of waking up next to him.

A year ago today, I was looking forward to doing this very thing. I was standing in the back room watching family and friends file into a small room from behind a makeshift curtain. My sister was doing the last touches on my hair and I was asking if Trey was ready yet. I could feel the nervousness swell in my stomach as the seconds ticked closer to time. It was 60 degrees outside and my long, strapless dress still felt like a heating blanket.

Then finally, confusion settled in the last moments, the music started. My brother said, "It's time," and escorted down the aisle. When I could finally find him, my nerves went away. My brother said something else but I didn't hear it. My focus was on the man at the other end, standing with his hands folded infront, grinning at me. Before I knew it, I was holding his hand, promising to love him forever.

The sun is starting to peak through the windows in the front of my house. I know it's time to clean up my grits and get back in the bed, lay next to him and cuddle. I look forward to it every morning now that I won't be getting up at 1:30 anymore! He'll stir just a bit as I slip back under the covers and put his arm back over me, as if I had never left. He'll wake up and we'll begin our day together laughing and poking fun at each other. We'll get dressed and ready, go eat lunch with his parents, come back home and watch the TV and today will become just another day by tomorrow.

If just another day is like ever other passed so far, I can't wait for tomorrow, the day after that, and the days after that.

Trey, you make my days so much brighter! I love you with all of my heart! Happy Anniversary!