Tyra-and-Steve

Today would have been my dear friends Tyra and Steve's 17th anniversary; I was their Maid of Honor at their wedding, which seems like both yesterday and ages ago.

I have two favorite pictures of Tyra and Steve together. My first favorite is this one, from their wedding day, a few hours after the ceremony.

My second favorite is this one, from sometime in the 1990s. I snapped this pic at their home in Carrollton, where they lived as a young married couple and then as a family with newborn Cooper. I don't know the exact date of this pic, or if they even knew I was in the room while they cuddled by their fireplace. I just know that I love this photo and the memories of weekend visits with them that it evokes.

i carry your heart with me
(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it
(anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear no fate
(for you are my fate, my sweet)
i want no world
(for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

e e cummings

I wish so much that we were all celebrating 17 years of marriage with them today. Instead, I will celebrate the memories of being with Tyra-and-Steve, the couple, and the privilege of having witnessed so many fun and wonderful moments, like the one captured in this photo, during their 15 years together.