Ten Years of This Nerd

October 18th, 2011. Ten years ago today I married a scrawny graphic designer who sketched on cocktail napkins and thought Arcade Fire was going to change my life.

Ten Years of This Nerd

I was holding Sophie on my hip during our first dance because she was sixteen months old and refused to be anywhere else. Marcus stepped on my dress. We both burst out laughing. It’s still my favorite wedding photo.

Ten years. We bought this house where Marcus brings me coffee in the driveway after my night shifts because he knows I need five minutes to decompress before I come inside.

The coffee delivery that happens every morning

We survived 2020 when I was at the hospital and he was managing homeschool chaos. We had that rough patch nobody talks about where we forgot how to be Elena and Marcus instead of just Mom and Dad. We figured it out.

This morning I found him in the kitchen making my coffee exactly how I like it (too much sugar, don’t judge) and wearing the same dopey smile he had at Mitch’s Tavern thirteen years ago.

Ten years and he still gives the best hugs

He still thinks I’m out of his league. He’s probably right. But he makes me laugh until my stomach hurts and he never complains when I make him retake photos forty-seven times. Best decision either of us ever made.