Six Years

Summertime is almost over! I hope you all have had the opportunity to take a break…whether that means a staycation or the trip of your dreams. Summertime whizzes by so quickly these days, it’s like the blink of an eye!

Manny and I will be celebrating our sixth anniversary on August 25th. Wow! Pretty astonishing how fast that went. It has been quite the six years. We experienced the sudden passing of Manny’s father shortly after we were married. We made the trip to Los Angeles, where I met many of his family members for the first time. Then, in 2020, we all experienced the major challenges of COVID-19. Last November, we faced another challenge when I broke my femur. I am still recovering from that. Manny has been an absolute trooper!

What we have learned is the importance of communication with one another. As Manny told some friends the other night, “Janet is my best friend.” I feel exactly the same way about him. We talk all the time. We work every day to respect one another. At times, there are speed bumps, but we just get up and work on it again.

We have learned so much about one another and about ourselves. Years ago, my dear friend Renee taught me that when HALT is in play, it’s not a great time to have a conversation. What is HALT? It stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. I wish I had learned this decades ago! It would have eliminated a lot of drama in my life.

Manny and I are blessed to have found one another 13 years ago. The odds were pretty much against us. Here’s Manny, a 20-year Navy veteran, who was born 1,500 miles away in Los Angeles. He has been around the world 14 times, lived in Italy for six years, and also lived in Japan. He speaks three languages fluently—English, Spanish, and Italian. Me? Never moved away from Omaha. Never traveled to Europe. The only language I know is English. (I am picking up a little bit of Spanish! I can understand some of the conversation when Manny speaks to others in Spanish.)

As I have mentioned here, we met on Match.com. It seems like decades ago. It’s as if I have known him my entire life. I feel very blessed to have him as my husband. As I tell people all the time, “Manny is the best person I know.”

Happy anniversary, Manny. I love you.

We will talk next month! Steal a little bit of chill time before now and when the weather starts changing.