Sorry Ladies: I am Taken

Yesterday was our Anniversary...8 years together.

And for an Anniversary Gift, Katie gave me a wedding band.

I could not be happier because last year I was hammering pins out of my excavator when my wedding band literally shattered off my finger. I wear Tungsten wedding bands, and they are hard, but very brittle, and the hammering shattered the wedding band enough so it fell off in three pieces.

If any woman thought I might have been available because I did not wear a wedding band for a year, I was not aware of it because I do not notice that kind of stuff. I completely miss subtle signs. In fact, I am sure most people just wonder "what that ugly guy is doing with someone as cute as her?"

But it was nice to reflect on 8 years of marriage. In that time:

I started work at a shipyard
Went through two major lay-offs as a welder
Had major reconstructive knee surgery
Had two bouts of cancer (thyroid and brain cancer)
Retired at age 42
Bought an additional 162 acres
Had a daughter together
Discovered gold, silver, and palladium on our farm
And through it all, had a commercial sheep farm


If I had to do it all again, knowing the outcome would not change, I would.

These last eight years have not always been easy, but they have really formed who we are.

My sincere hope is, in twenty years, if I am still around, people will say, "Travis Johnson had integrity."

Congratulations for yesterday, and do sincerely hope you have (at the very least) another happy and productive twenty years together.