Dear Owen: The Story of Your Parents

Dear Owen,

Ten years ago today, your daddy and I were married. It's a pretty neat milestone, I think. We've had so many great experiences together, and I think we have a lot more in store.

We met 15 years ago in marching band camp at Iowa State. That's right, we met my first week of college in marching band camp. I think we each had an interest in each other at various times throughout the year, but our timing was always off. We each dated other people for a while, and then by the end of the year we finally decided to give it a go.

In 2000, your dad graduated from Iowa State and moved onto graduate school at Indiana University. I still had 3 years left at Iowa State, so we decided to try our hand at a long-distance relationship. I spent the summers in Indiana, and during the semesters we saw each other every other month. It was certainly difficult, but he was still just ... the right one.

We got engaged in the fall of 2002 when your dad came back to ISU for Homecoming. We took a walk on an old running trail where we strolled on our first date. There's a little stream and a bridge along that trail, and your daddy proposed. And the romance doesn't stop there. The construction and rainy mist provided a nice atmosphere for the occasion. I didn't mind at all, but I think he was a bit disappointed the setup wasn't quite as he remembered last time we walked it.

Finally, on Memorial Day weekend, May 2003, we were married. The whole weekend was amazing, and you can be proud to know that your parents (and grandparents) know how to throw a party: golfing, drinking, dancing, barbecuing, singing ... and recovering. It was one of the best days of my life.

Since then, your dad and I have done so much together. We played softball together every summer for the last 10 years. We traveled to some amazing places like Paris, London, Amsterdam, Hawaii, New Zealand, Jamaica, and cruised through the Caribbean. We hiked to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite and along the Milford track in New Zealand. He taught me to snow ski (though I'm still not great at it). We tried sushi for the first time together, and it was delicious. We developed our wine tasting from preferring white wine to preferring red wine. We had full conversations consisting of nothing but lines from the movie, Dumb and Dumber. We rode roller-coasters, cooked a 23 lb. turkey for just the two of us, and drove across the country. We saw fireworks in Washington DC, and walked through lots of zoos. We moved to California from the Midwest, and camped along the coast. Not bad!

Of course we fight; we can both be stubborn and irrational. Sometimes we let the stresses of the day get the best of us. We drive each other crazy at times. But no one challenges me, makes me laugh, inspires me to be better at everything like your daddy does.

We decided in the past few years that we'd like to share our adventures with someone. That's where you come in. I guess you could say that you are our newest adventure, but I'd rather think of it like us experiencing new adventures together. We're so excited to show you some of things we've seen, and find out what your adventures and interests will be. I can't wait to see what's next for our family.

I love you and your daddy very much,

Mama