I stood there with my entire body trembling and tears running down my cheeks. I looked down at my hand and couldn’t believe what I saw. A diamond ring . . . MY diamond ring, on my finger with my perfectly polished nails. I lowered my hand to see him there, still down on one knee. The man of my dreams, my very best friend. I remember thinking I would never find him, that this could never happen to me. The only thing I could think in that moment was, “I remember when all of this was just a dream.”

We stood at the end of the driveway, looking up and admiring the little split level house. There were pieces of trim hanging off from around the windows, and paint chipping from the railing, but we didn’t care; it was ours. We had saved for years, and the papers were finally signed. He twisted my wedding ring around my finger as we stood there holding hands. He took a deep breath in and exhaled the cold, January air. Looking down into my tear-filled eyes, he squeezed my hand and said, “Do you remember when all of this was just a dream?”

“Just a few more pushes,” the doctor kept saying. My husband was holding my leg back as he counted for me out loud. In between contractions, he grabbed my hand and reassured me I could do this. It was all I could focus on, my hand in his. And out from those clasped hands sparkled my diamond; a reminder of the precious promise we had made together so many years before. I began to cry, realizing that it wasn’t going to be just the two of us anymore. His voice broke though my racing thoughts. “Honey, you need to look down,” he gasped. I could see our daughter’s head. We hugged one another; one last time, just the two of us. One more push, and then they laid her on my chest and we became a family. Through my tears, I looked up at my husband, “Can you believe she’s here? Don’t you remember when all of this was just a dream?”

The early morning sun peeked through the windows, the light shining on his rising and falling chest. I snuggled in next to him, my arms draping over his body; still after all these years, it’s the most comfortable place I know. In the stillness of the morning, I hear the sound of giggles in the other room and little feet running down the hallway. I take a deep breath in and sigh, my hand resting on his chest, my ring sparkling in the morning sun. And in that moment, I am completely undone. Oh, to know that I am so loved, so complete in this place. To know the strength of a man so loving, and the joy of children so consuming. And to realize that long ago, this was all just a longing, just an aching in my soul.

But now that it’s reality, it’s so much more than I could have ever hoped for.

It is so much more than just a dream.

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