Recently, Mike and I were able to get away for a few days. Just us. We went to Martha's Vineyard for five days earlier in September. It was a beautiful mini vacation for us. The weather was gorgeous, the place we stayed was comfortable and welcoming and we didn't look at our watches for hours at a time.
One thing that always seems to happen to us is making wrong turns. I have a terrible sense of direction and while Mike is much better, he lacks the attention to detail when following directions given. As you can imagine, we ended up in several places we did not intend to be. Sometimes, this causes friction but many times what we experience is serendipity.
The definition of serendipity that I think I like best is; an occurrence that while unexpected, yields a fortunate or favorable outcome. On our vacation, we discovered many hidden little treasures on Martha's Vineyard. An unscheduled three car ferry ride to Chappaquiddick resulted in a beautiful long walk that was filled with great conversation and comfortable silence on a practically deserted soft sandy beach. Lunch outside at a corner café we happened to walk by was our favorite dining spot. A day spent driving around the island and stopping whenever we wanted led us to a familiar place on Gay Head with a lunch enjoyed on a cliff overlooking Vineyard Sound.
The reason this last spot was familiar to us is because 17 years ago this weekend we spent the day on Martha's Vineyard as part of our honeymoon. We reminisced about how young we were and how much has happened in the last seventeen years for us. We simply relished in being together and investing in our relationship.
We have had a few wrong turns and corrections over the course of our seventeen years together. But we are stronger and closer because of them. But thankfully and truthfully, the occurrences of serendipity far outweigh the wrong turns. These two things have resulted in a love so strong and so true that it literally takes my breath away.
So I will take the wrong turns. Giving grace and receiving it when we make corrections. I will cherish the unexpected and often times fabulous discoveries we experience in our lives. I will choose to love everyday and stay in love everyday. Because for Mike and me, wrong turns often lead to serendipity.
Happy Anniversary to us!
