Creating new life

For the first 41 years of my life, I've been taught that the fundamental nature of marriage is to create new life....or at least be open to that new life.

The second part of that is questionable for me, only because I have known plenty of amazing legally-married couples in my adult life who have decided not to have kids....and I absolutely respect their decision - their reasons simply aren't important to me.

But I hope you'll indulge me for a few minutes as I talk about this notion of "creating new life." For my first 41 years, I understood this to mean one thing, and one thing only - having babies. But over the course of these last 10 months with Amy, I have come to understand things a bit differently. The growth of this relationship has been like my own rebirth. I know that sounds strange and wacked out, but I am completely serious. I am, simply put, a new person.

I have spent many years playing the role of funny-yet-bitterly-sarcastic-person who always knew how to get a laugh......and along with that role came the glass-is-always-half-empty attitude. Like I said, I know this all might sound strange, but my outlook on life has taken a dramatic turn. Some friends make fun of me, but the sun really does shine brighter - the flowers really do smell sweeter - the coffee really does taste better - the laughter is louder and more frequent - a cold beer even tastes better on a hot day. Seriously. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow will bring....what next month will bring....what next year will bring. It's all good, and it keeps getting better. And it amazes me every day.

I've never felt compelled to have babies, so I never thought I'd understand what it meant to create life. But I am creating new life - both within myself, and with the person I love.....and it's better than anything I could have ever imagined.