20th Wedding Anniversary

Joe and I will be celebrating 20 years of marriage this July 28!
Joe wrote a poem to me prior to our wedding. It reads:

Come Away With Me Now

Come away with me now to a path by the sea
Where we can relax and let our spirits be free,
Where the sun in its glory is shining above
In the warmth of its rays we'll share our love.

We can walk by the shoreline for hours on end,
Exploring what lies beyond the next bend.
At night by a fire in your loving embrace,
I'll watch dancing shadows at play on your face.

We can plan for the future. I'll chase away fears
Of what lies ahead in our future years.
Come away with me now so we can explore,
The path that meanders by some distant shore.

Now 20 years later and living in and serving as missionaries in Russia he has added to this poem:

Where the Path has Lead
You accepted my offer to walk by the sea,
Willing to share your life with me.
For the past twenty years you've been at my side;
My companion, my friend, my cherished bride.

Now the path has lead us to a distant land,
Where is spoken a language we don't understand.
Far from our home and the ones we miss,
Longing to hold, or give them a kiss.

Yet, the blessings are greater than any we've known,
Through service and faith much closer we've grown.
May we always continue to walk and explore,
That path that meanders by some distant shore.

We are so grateful for each other and I'm grateful for Joe's special gift of writing poems. We are also grateful for the gospel in our lives that teach us with our temple marriage we can be husband and wife for all eternity predicated on our faithfulness. We are not married for only "until death do you part." We strive daily to strengthen our testimonies by prayer and service to learn the ways of the Lord and the knowledge on how to return to live with our Heavenly Father. We are grateful for the priesthood being restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith to enable us to make eternal covenants in the temple.