For me, July 29th is the anniversary of a before and after moment. Do you know what I mean? An event that completely alters who are? It changes life as you know it? And now, for the rest of your years, there is a big fat notch on your timeline and you will always know which side of it your memories were made on.
Some of us know all too well of these ‘before and after’ moments that are often tragic- a sudden death of a loved one, a diagnosis, an accident, or an affair.
Occasionally though, the universe does one of us a real solid, and grants one of us a timestamped moment that changes life for the better. I imagine that is what it would be like to win the lottery or if Taylor Swift suddenly told her fans to read my book. These magically happy, life-changing moments are more like the day that I became a mom. And there are a lot of moms out there so we probably aren’t noticing these defining marks on our timeline as easily as we do the sad ones.
July 29th, 2004 was before I became a mother but it is just as profound. And it was as life changing as the sudden unexpected loss of my grandmother, which was a loss that woke up something deep in my core and rippled change to every facet of my life experience and being for the rest of my days.
The 29th of July is the same but different. It was the day I met my husband. On my timeline, the before and the after of this moment are two different colors. Two different versions of who I am. To me, it’s so much more meaningful than the day I married him because marriage was such an obvious choice that had to be made. It was a calculated plan. But our chance encounter was divinity. And since that moment, nothing has ever been the same.