A year ago today we did a thing. True to form, the festivities were strung out across three different local farms and two days of partying. True to form, New England lobster and clams were served as a bluegrass band pumped out our favorite tunes. Families from the north and the south mingled. Cocktail glasses clinked. We all had too much to drink, save for Maggie who was five months pregnant with our son at the time.
Looking back at the photos I see a couple who had no idea what was coming down the road. Floods. Birthpain. Hurricanes. Freezes. Destruction. Reconstruction. Loses. Wins. More losses. More wins clawed back from the jaws of defeat. In 2022 alone we experienced the death of my father and the birth of my son. The completion of our farmstead followed weeks later by its destruction, followed by a long and painful rebuilding process. The pendulum of life and death, of creation and destruction swung so widely and so often it felt, at least for me, that we’d never really find our balance ever again.
With the benefit of hindsight it’s clear that July 21st, 2022 marked the midway point of the most tumultuous year I’ve ever lived. But through it all – the highs and the lows, the pain and the ecstasy – our relationship, now ratified by a marriage certificate, never wavered. Sure it bent at times, but never broke. Again we find ourselves at the midway point of another hard year. Building a business together has been hard. Raising a child intentionally has been harder. Repairing all that was lost in the flood waters has taken more time and money than I ever could have imagined and there’s still much work left to do.
But Maggie’s never been afraid of work and I’ve never been afraid of a fight. A year after this seminal event, I’m thankful for the hands that brought it together, the families forged together in the rolling fields of Aquidneck Island and the moments that will live on in our photos and memories for decades to come. But nothing comes close to coming home to you and Baby Quincy. I am your carpenter and you are mine. Here’s to many more (hopefully more chill) years to come.
