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Ten years – Ten years ago today, I made a promise to someone special. I promised that no matter what life threw at us I would be true to her, and nothing would part us until we left this earth. It’s hard to believe that it has been ten years since that day. When I woke up this morning I knew I wanted to write something about it, but I didn’t know what. My first thought was that it didn’t really seem like ten years, as if time had shot by when I wasn’t paying attention. What could I say about the past ten years?
For inspiration I started going through old photographs. We have a number of photo albums on our shelves and even more boxes of photos that didn’t make it into the albums. I ended up going through every single photo we ever took together, flipping through them like the pages on a calendar. I watched as we changed, and as the world changed around us. I saw faces of old friends and faces of family members who are no longer with us. Whenever I found a photo of just the two of us together I scanned it into my computer and thought about when it had been taken. And as the years rolled by I realized what I wanted to do for today’s entry. I don’t want to say anything. I’ll have words to write a little later in the week, maybe, but today I want to share with you some images from the last ten years, as a tribute to the woman who stuck with me through them all—no matter what life threw at us.
![1997, Seoul](imagery/misc/ten_years01.jpg)
1997, visiting our pastor and his wife, Seoul
![1997, Ulan Bator](imagery/misc/ten_years02.jpg)
1997, in front of the Genghis Khan Hotel, Ulan Bator, Mongolia
![1997, Seoul](imagery/misc/ten_years03.jpg)
1997, hiking on Mt. Cheonggye in Seoul
![1998, U.S.](imagery/misc/ten_years04.jpg)
1998, Blue Ginger restaurant, outside of Boston
![1999, Pretoria](imagery/misc/ten_years05.jpg)
1999, Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria, South Africa
![1999, Mozambique](imagery/misc/ten_years06.jpg)
1999, somewhere in Mozambique
![2000, Gyeonggi Province](imagery/misc/ten_years07.jpg)
2000, near the Asian Center for Theological Studies and Mission, Gyeonggi Province
![2000, Pretoria](imagery/misc/ten_years08.jpg)
2000, Pretoria, South Africa
![2001, Seoul](imagery/misc/ten_years09.jpg)
2001, celebrating my birthday, Seoul
![2001, Arizona](imagery/misc/ten_years10.jpg)
2001, reaching the rim of the Grand Canyon after climbing down to the bottom and back
![2001, Washington](imagery/misc/ten_years11.jpg)
2001, Hoh Rain Forest, Washington state
![2002, Seoul](imagery/misc/ten_years12.jpg)
2002, supporting Korea in the World Cup, Seoul
![2002, Sokcho](imagery/misc/ten_years13.jpg)
2002, on a family outing to Sokcho, east coast of Korea
![2002, Ko Phi Phi](imagery/misc/ten_years14.jpg)
2002, lunch at the Lemongrass Restaurant, Ko Phi Phi, Thailand
![2003, Korea](imagery/misc/ten_years15.jpg)
2003, on a church outing, west coast of Korea
![2003, Seoul](imagery/misc/ten_years16.jpg)
2003, at the award ceremony for the new translators contest
![2004, Las Vegas](imagery/misc/ten_years17.jpg)
2004, in front of Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas
![2004, San Diego](imagery/misc/ten_years18.jpg)
2004, on the California coast, near San Diego
![2005, Wando](imagery/misc/ten_years19.jpg)
2005, in the reed fields of Wando, off the south coast of Korea
![2006, Danyang](imagery/misc/ten_years20.jpg)
2006, in Gosu Cave, Danyang, Korea
Ten years ago, I was certain I was making the right choice, and that certainty has only grown through the years. I look forward to spending the next ten years with the love of my life.