Moving Casualty

There's always one - and this was an unfortunate one. Let me start at the beginning...
On our wedding day, Phil and I poured sand from two separate vases into one big one, symbolizing the intertwining of our lives. There were also small pebbles in the bottom of the large vase to symbolize God as the foundation of our marriage.
Here we are pouring the sand (mine was white and Phil's was natural) on our wedding day, August 13, 2005.

This vase has been displayed in our living room in each home we have been in since that day. Over time, the sand has shifted and settled. Phil likes to say that it's just like our marriage - the two colors of sand become more blended over time and it's harder to tell that there ever were two colors. Pretty clever, huh? He's a smart one.

Well, if you follow Phil's metaphor, I'm not sure if this next part is good or bad...
The movers packed our vase upside down. The seal broke in the box and when Grace unpacked it, all I heard was the smooth sound of sand sliding out of a glass vase, followed by the louder sound of pebbles hitting the packing paper, followed by absolute silence. I was sad, of course, but with some careful clean up and a kitchen ceremony, we were back in business.

First we sifted the sand out of the pebbles and placed our Rock foundation back in the bottom of the vase.

Then, Phil and I poured the sand back into the vase. Sure, it's not as pretty as the first time - but that's ok.

As you can see, the sand is pretty well mixed now. As Phil said, "Sometimes things get a little messy, and you have to really pour yourself back into your marriage." Where does this guy get this stuff? I love it.