8.2.59
A long time ago…on August 2, 1959 to be exact…something amazing happened. In a tiny, one traffic light town in North Carolina, a city girl pledged her troth to a country boy. Helen Graham and Felix Yarboro got married. And the story of me began…
37 years later I stood at the altar with my soul mate and did the same thing.
4 years after that, Robert and I welcomed the first of our three lovely daughters into the world.
So August 2nd is something of a phenomenon in our family.
As a young Southern girl, I thought about my wedding dress and all of those things that little girls daydream about but, as I got older, those thoughts gave way to opinions on friends, school, music and all of the randomness that fills a teenage mind. I was dating someone who talked of spending our lives together but deep down I knew that my heart wasn’t in it. (My parents should now be smiling since they were right all along!) Enter Robert Donovan. Within a few weeks, I knew. He was the man for me. I found out later that he knew too. Strange how that happens, isn’t it?
Shortly thereafter, the marriage word came into play and at some point, the calendar was consulted. There it was. Plain as day. August 2nd fell on a Saturday. I still remember the tingling feeling in my stomach. We could share the day with my parents. There was no question. So, on 8.2.97, I put on my mother’s wedding dress and became Mrs. Donovan.
Four years later, largely pregnant with our first child, my OB said, “What about next Thursday?” I was completely calm until I realized the date of next Thursday. August 2nd. More stomach tingling. Abigail arrived perfectly according to my OB’s plan, making us parents and forever catapulting the date into the Yarboro/Donovan Hall of Fame.
It is not just that we share the date with my parents and the birth of our first child. It is so much more than that. My parents have been a great example of what a marriage should look like, from both the outside and inside. Their relationship is not without fault or flaw but its about as close to perfect as it can be. My husband and I have an amazing relationship. I am grateful each and every day for that. Our daughter is an incredible person. She is a lot of me and even more of my husband intertwined into a young girl who is smart, beautiful, kind and capable of anything.
So, on this, the second day of August 2013, I wish my parents a happy 54th, my sweet husband a happy 16th and our darling daughter a happy 12th.
Happy happy happy!
Tags: anniversary
August 3rd, 2013 at 11:25 am
I remember YOUR day so well! And how special it was and is. When Alan & I were dating and he “popped the question” to me, I knew that my birthday was on a Saturday that year and that’s when we married. I love your comments “forever catapulting the date into the Yarboro/Donovan Hall of Fame.” I realize that yours has that added and very special touch with the birth of Abigail, but for us, ours is also a “catapulting date” in the Kyle/Head Hall of Fame! Thanks for sharing! And missed seeing you this year ~ it’s a must for your next visit!
August 3rd, 2013 at 11:42 am
What a WONDERFUL testimony!!!
I agree that your parents are a perfect picture of a good marriage. I agree too that you found the man of your dreams at an early age and we could all see that is was THE MATCH God intended! I agree too that August 2 is a GREAT day in ya’lls family! We remember sweet Abigail’s birth too! The only problem I see is that I don’t get so see you often enough! Let’s make a better attempt of keeping up! Facebook helps us do that!
Love to all,
Garnett
August 17th, 2013 at 8:44 am
How could we ever forget: “May we share your wedding date with you?” We knew that she loved our relationship, we knew that she knew the real happiness that comes with good marriage and we knew that she knew that good marriage was not something to try on and see if it works. Then we read this chapter: marriage celebrated; marriage recreated; marriage fulfilled a little more with the precious Abigail, all on August seconds, one generation or another. Look at all that we have to fill in the gaps: homes, children; grandchildren; each other and all the stories, each of them a true treasure. Truly blesses are we all, and we will never take that for granted, making everyone know that they are irreplaceable in the continued writing of the book that includes all our life’s chapters.