All Kinds of March Madness

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Today Selection Sunday – a big day in our house. (For you non-sports-fans, Selection Sunday is when the 64 college basketball teams that are going to the NCAA tournament are selected and placed in their specific brackets.)

Apparently, this is a very big deal. One would think that I would have realized the magnitude of importance this was to my husband before we got married. However, the NCAA tournament was eclipsed by an only slightly more significant event – our wedding day.

When we got engaged in July of 2009, we had a somewhat small window to plan our wedding. Weddings are ridiculously expensive on Long Island, and during ‘high season,’ it is downright robbery. So, we needed to plan ours in the ‘off-season’ – which was just months away – or we would have to wait a year and a half to get married. So, we pushed it as close to warm weather as we could without spilling over to the next price bracket, and we landed on March 26 (the weekend before Easter that year – and of course, the Final Four ).

In the whirlwind of planning our wedding, buying a house, and moving, somehow J. wasn’t so tuned in to the tournament. Or he skillfully hid it from me (Lord knows I probably would have gone buck-wild on him had he mentioned anything that took his attention away from our big day).  Either way, I went into marriage oblivious that this event was on the same level as a national holiday (as are the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup…you get the idea).

However, I found out the next year, as we were making plans for our first anniversary.

‘Really? You want to go away for our anniversary? That’s the weekend of the Final Four.’

[Stern look].

‘No, that’s fine. OF COURSE I want to go away and celebrate our first year of wedded bliss.’

[Smile. Right answer].

I’ve softened over the years a bit to the tournament, although I seriously question if J. would have agreed to our wedding date had he realized that he would have to split his attention between our anniversary and the Final Four. Every year. For the rest of his life.

So, mixed into the celebration of our love is March Madness. When it comes to all things sports in our house, I’ve learned that it’s much easier to join him than to try to beat him.

Usually, by the time the Sweet 16 rolls around, I’m invested enough to pick my teams. This year, however, I’m taking it to new levels – I’m going to fill out my own brackets. Now mind you, at this point, I have no insight into the teams, the favorites, etc. -but I’m going to do my homework tomorrow, fill out my brackets, and give it a go.

In keeping with the spirit of March Madness, I’ll do my brackets to appease my husband and join him in something he loves; on the other side, on my blog, March Madness will consist of the marriage kind of March Madness.

I’ve written a lot about our TTC journey, but I’ve never shared (on this blog) how we got here – the stories leading up to our marriage (and all its madness).

I’m excited to tell these stories because it is always so affirming to me to remember God’s hand in bringing us together. God doesn’t always lead me in such obvious ways, but when it comes to our union, there really was no mistaking it.

So, that being said, let March Madness begin.

[Photo Credit: Wikipedia]