Only Twenty Years. Only.

February 7, 1998. It's seems like a long time ago. I guess it kinda is. But, in a lot of ways, it seems like yesterday.

I can still remember the snow on the ground; the calling repeatedly from my Motorola flip-phone trying to track down our missing cake; the way my bride, Sabrina, looked when she started down the aisle; and of course, the way I mustered all my manly strength to suck in the tears. Which, for the record, I succeeded... until we exited down the aisle together and both burst into tears once we reached the door at the back of the church. Maybe it was love. Maybe I was 21 and she was 20 and we were both scared to death. Maybe a little cocktail of both.

We were young and in love. We were also about 6 months away from becoming parents, so there's that. "It won't last," we were told. "You're too young... you don't have to get married just because she's pregnant." The brilliant advice just kept rolling in. We knew what we wanted. We knew, in our hearts, we were making the right decision. We prayed... and prayed... and prayed. And although a voice from Heaven never came booming down, there's no explanation for the peace we felt about getting hitched.

We could now pretend this story is an Lifetime romantic comedy starring Candice Cameron. The credits roll as we're at the reception and the words "Happily Ever After" written in some overused cursive font would appear on the screen. But that's not real life.

In real life, there are struggles. There are trials and tribulations. There are broke times and there are abundant times. There's laughter and tears. There's arguing and then there's making up. (I like the making up part.)

We've seen births and deaths. We've purchased a home and lost that home. We've left our perfect little hometown (Walhalla, SC) to move to another state to start over (and we love you Dallas, GA).

Yet, we remain. We remain in love. We remain best friends. We remain because that's what we do. While this life offers no constant, we've become the constant, the dependable, the reliable.

We decided a long time ago that we refuse to give ourselves an out. That awful "D" word is not allowed in our house because it's not an option. We're committed to this thing - through sickness and health and all those ancient vows we repeated 20 years ago in that little country church. And there's nothing, with God smack dab in the middle of our marriage, that we can't overcome.

And on this day, I would be remiss if I didn't wish my partner in life a very Happy 20th Anniversary. Sabrina, you are my love, you are my best friend, you are my life. I thank God that I get to wake up next to you every day for the rest of my life. Never a dull day, right honey? Never a dull day.