The White Ribbon

Back in 2000 I gave Brandon a birthday gift and the gift was tied with a silk, white ribbon. After he opened his gift, I tied the white ribbon around my neck and for some reason he just loved it. Well, I don't know why but I ended up keeping the ribbon in my keepsake box. About a month before Brandon and I got married he asked me about the white ribbon. I told him that I still had it and he asked me if I would tie it around my ankle and wear it on our wedding day.

I knew that was different, but thought it was a sweet idea and so that is exactly what I did. I wore it the day of our wedding and kept it on throughout our whole honeymoon. We both loved it and Brandon thought it was too cute. I decided then that I would bring out the ribbon and wear it every year on our anniversary trip. That was the beginning of the white ribbon....

On my wedding day I remember getting so excited as I tied it around my ankle. Brittany, my best friend, helped me put it on for the first time. I remember my wedding day so well, and I was just tickled to death that we were starting a tradition together. I knew that every year the ribbon would get dirtier, torn, and more worn.

However, I thought it would be very symbolic of marriage. Every year in marriage you go through ups and downs, but you just keep going. When I put the ribbon on for the first time it was so shiny and white, but I knew that would change over the years and that was ok. The more worn it was would just be a reminder of the fact that we had made it through another year together.

Here we are putting it on for the first time before the wedding....

Brandon and I at our wedding. This is when he saw the ribbon on for the first time...as he was trying to take off the garter!

Many of our yearly vacations have the white ribbon in it! I will get several stares like "Why is that girl wearing that?!" But that's ok. I know why I wear it and it makes me happy, even though it is different! I remember on one of our trips we were snorkeling in the ocean and my ribbon fell off. I was SO upset. Before I knew it Brandon was diving down deeper to catch it, and he did!!! The ribbon has already been through a lot....just like us.

Here are a few pictures from our vacations with the white ribbon...




This year was our first anniversary with Brylee. Because of that, we didn't take our normal vacation together just the two of us. About a month after our anniversary Brandon remembered that I had forgotten to wear my ribbon on June 7th. In 6 years I had never forgotten and I was so sad. So I went upstairs, pulled out the ribbon, and tied it on my foot for the day. I wanted to still wear it and take a picture even though it was a little late.

As you can see, Brylee liked the ribbon too. She wouldn't let me keep it on....

So I tied it on her....
I have a little book that I write in about the ribbon each year. I write where we went for our anniversary, a few details about our trip, and then I put a picture of me wearing the ribbon on that same page. It's neat to go back and see what we looked like each year and to be able to see the ribbon in all the pictures.

This year I am going to use this picture of Brylee wearing the ribbon. I think it will be neat to look back and remember the "reason" we didn't go on our couples trip...because we had just had Brylee and we didn't want to leave her that long. In my book I will write how this year was a huge turning point in our lives and I know this picture will be perfect.

I hope that my white ribbon will make it many more years....it's already starting to look old. It has a few tears but it's hanging in there. I think it gets more "worn" because our trips always involve the ocean, and all kinds of activities that cause it to become more worn. But I want it to last forever.

Even though it will not be as pretty when Brylee gets married, I hope that she will wear it when she does. It will definitely represent "something old" and I know it will be a beautiful reminder of our family and what God has done through us.

My white ribbon is priceless, I think you can see why.