What if I collected images of when we were young, and now?
It’s been ten years, my love. We were young. The world was at our feet. One year, we traipsed around the globe so often, I begged you to leave me home for a trip to Australia, because I was too tired to go to the airport. Days later, we ran through the bush together and marveled at how wild the landscape became the second we got off the path. We were laughing, euphoric, and blissful to be in nature.
We realized as dusk approached, that we didn’t actually know where we were. Eventually, you found our way back to the ocean while I came up with newspaper headlines about two dumb Americans who got lost on vacation one mile from civilization and died.
The ocean was so loud and the moonlit our path. The strength of the wind made me grateful we had found our way back.
You couldn’t stop smiling and kept hugging me so tight. We made out under the moonlight as the tide rose, and realized we were risking our lives for these salty kisses. We held hands and continued on. It was one of the best days of my life.
We squeezed every last drop out of the day. That feeling of euphoria, gratitude, and wonder is the magic of falling in love with Mike Ofeldt. It is the grand adventure that is us.
I was at a party this weekend, and a friend of mine said he didn’t want to say how amazing his relationship with his wife is on social media. He just couldn’t see the point. It felt like bragging. What if instead, it was like shining a light on being wildly grateful, a snapshot.
Our fertility journey has taught me a lot. That life can be a mess, and there’s beauty in that too. This is our story. This is our heartbreak. There is extraordinary beauty in telling people who you are, so they call you by your name. It’s tremendously difficult, but freeing. It helps me accept myself.
There is so much connection to the people who have read my story. I’ve shown them my heart. I’m wildly grateful for the outpouring of kindness and connection that I’ve received. For the friends that give me hope and strength to not give up.
This present moment holds an uncertain future, but ultimately some kind of knowing that we will survive it. Ten years’ worth of photographs of who we used to be when we were young. After awhile our memories fade, and then you might hear a song, and suddenly it’s like a movie is playing in your head. Falling in love with a man, and the whole world.
Mike Ofeldt, you still look like a movie. You still feel like a song. Your voice is home to me.
I love the things you do, the way you talk, the way you move.
Let me photograph you in this light in case this is the last time. That we may be exactly as we were when we were young. You’re like a dream come true.
Can I have this moment?
I want to take this picture of you and I and Jake so later I can look back at it remembering when we were young and scared, and planning our IVF dates.
Wondering if there would still be eggs, wondering if we could ever finance a surrogate, wondering if we are completely insane, and preparing for the dunk tank of IVF hormones to come.
Hoping I’ll still come back to you, to me, and still holding hands wildly grateful for each other.
Wondering if we know anything at all other than fear and gratitude.
We are happy to offer three photography specials as a heartfelt thank you to those who support our GoFundMe fund to add to our family. We don’t know how we are going to get there or make this happen but we are going to walk confidently in the direction of our dreams and try with everything we have. Thank you from the bottom of our hopeful hearts. Please check back for regular updates to our progress.