No Ordinary Day

That day was no ordinary day. It was familiar December weather for southern Arizona, calm, almost warm, and very clear blue skies. I was scrambling to finish getting myself ready for this important and emotional day. I had been praying for and waiting on this day for over a year now, and my heart beat faster as I realized what I was about to do. “ Moooooommmmm!” my reverie was broken with a shrill squeal for help. Bella was in need, and whether it was truly important or not, to my Bella, drama queen extraordinaire, it was life or death! Her hair was still not done, and she did not like the shoes I had picked for her to wear. As I calmed her down, I could hear the girls’ father working with GiGi on her outfit. We were getting married today. Again!


A while later, as we stood before our Pastor and exchanged our vows for the second time in our young lives, I couldn’t help but choke up. It didn’t matter that I was in a black and white dress, and he wasn’t wearing a tux. It didn’t even matter that we were not on our way to an exotic honeymoon somewhere in the Carribean. All that mattered was that he was promising his love to me again, in front of God, our families, and Pastor McDuffie. I looked at him, he looked at me, and we both knew…this time really was forever. By the grace of God we both meant it.

This blue- eyed Norwegian from farm country in Illinois had met my Mexican man thirteen years before in a dried up border town in southern Arizona. How God brought these two opposites together years ago is still amazing! Juan was twenty-three, through college with his bachelor’s degree, goal –oriented and sharp. I was seventeen, naïve, perky and dream-oriented! I was in love with life, and soon Juan was in love with me. We laugh about it now, because there was never any “real romance” between us. That is, we were mutually falling for each other as friends. Friendship is a wonderful basis for love, because though I haven’t experienced romantic feelings myself, I have heard that romance can fade with time. Our friendship, however, has never ended.

So we married early the next year, for more than one reason, which I will indulge you on only after you and I have become friends enough for you to treasure as much as we do. Not long after we were expecting our first child, our only son, Jovanni. I would like to say that we lived happily ever after, but that wouldn’t be a very fun story to read anyway. I think at some point we have to “grow up” and realize there is no such thing as happily ever after! We’ve seen some sorrow in our past together, but we have also seen triumph, success, and many reasons to celebrate what God has done in our lives.

Fast forward to today, just an ordinary day in a hectic, but precious, life. The life of a Mexican wife, mother of four chamacos, and probably as most stay-at-home moms out there, too much to do in one day. I am grateful for my life, as I was once on a path to a very different life. This is the diary of my family’s stories; most funny, some sad but inspiring, all, worth the while. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy telling them!