“life without her just seemed like an impossibility“
I’m sitting in our home office stressing about valentines day, Annas beside me going through emails and stressing about running our business- it’s a toss up who’s more stressed. We’re both the tiredest we’ve been since yesterday, dressed in our daggy house clothes and bleary eyed. Anna makes a sarcastic comment and I laugh, looking over at her I smile and feel the warm, all encompassing glow of love for her I’ve had since we met 14 years ago. My smile fades as I return my gaze to the list of very average Valentine’s day present ideas I had made, she deserves so much more. For being my best friend, for holding my hand when it’s dark, for shouldering the responsibility of the business and for being an incredible mum.
I’m lucky enough to get to write a lot of these blogs celebrating other people’s declarations of love and special moments and today I would like to share my own about the most amazing girl in the world, Anna.
Like all the best love stories, ours begins at Christmas. Fate had recently dealt us both a few bad hands and as Christmas 2012 rolled around we were both in need of some extra money and as foolish young photographers we both had the genius (?) idea that Santa Photos would be an easy payday. Little did we know that taking this seemingly small Holiday job would set in motion events that would shape the rest of our lives.
Shredded white garbage bags being passed of as snow, multiple Santa’s squirreled away in closets and an endless line of kicking, crying, terrified kids. The North pole wasn’t living up to the hype. However spending time at “Santa Land” with Anna quickly became the highlight of my week. So much so I started going in on my days off just so I could “bump into” her on her breaks. How this beautiful, smart beyond her years, funny girl ended up working beside me I do not know. In the end, asking Anna out was incredibly easy (I write knowing full well I was terrified). From the very beginning we were able to talk about just about anything. It came easily to this extreme introvert and I don’t think I’ve made a faster friend in my life. And so as I stood there in front of my dream girl, slowly dancing around the question of if she would like to go on a date with me- she slowly prodded and pushed me in the right direction, gently teeing me up to say what I needed to say and we haven’t stopped gabbing since. After a few formal dates descended into long chats into the evening, our meals forgotten and cold, we quickly ditched restaurants for couches and laughed ourselves into tired hysteria late each night. It was in this period that Anna’s love for all things Christmas quickly became apparent, at one point even sneaking into my unit to install and decorate Christmas tree while I was out. Anna’s infectious love of Christmas has grabbed me too and it is now the most wonderful time of the year for our little family.
As time went on the long chats didn’t waiver, each new project that threatened to overwhelm us only brought us closer together and life without her just seemed like an impossibility.
We got married under an old jacaranda tree on a warm, June afternoon surrounded by red maple leaves. I was a mess. The crowd, the public speaking, the project managing- it was all too much for me. Anna on the other hand was the most joyful, ecstatically happy bride I have ever had the fortune of seeing. She was radiant and her smile on that day remains one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life. We danced the night away like no one was watching and after all the speeches, cake and noise we retired to the bath and swapped stories from the day while I removed an insane amount of hair pins from Anna’s hair as we laughed. It was perfect.
Fast forward through the pandemic, a midlife breakdown, a cocktail of antidepressants and Call of Duty (nothing like a little intermission before a great second act!) and we were preparing to welcome baby Holly into this world. Without focusing on the negative it’s fair to say Anna wasn’t blessed with an easy pregnancy. It was not the happy nesting and resting period that Nappy commercials had promised. The reality, much like a real nappy, was mainly shit. After 10 years of facing every problem together, this was one hill I couldn’t climb for her and I have never been more proud of someone than I was of Anna the night Holly was born. Fun fact to lighten the mood! Heading into the due date we had each settled on a baby name- Anna with Holly and my preference being Hazel. Holly, with her life motto of “it’s taking too long!” decided to ignore her due date and arrive unexpectedly in the middle of the night. The midwife on call that evening was named Holly and just like that, fate (and our eager beaver) had chosen her name for us.
For all its trials, the last few years have been amazing. There are now essentially two Anna’s in my life- the cheeky, noisy, crazy one and the soon to be four year old. I see so much of Anna in little Holly and I feel so blessed to share a house with both. We’re all learning and exploring the world together. Holly’s shaping us as we do our best to shape her. It’s not neat and tidy, its wild and a warzone at times. But we’re still chatting away our nights, Anna’s still catching my breath with her beauty and we’re still tackling the impossible together. I love you Anna Osetroff, happy Valentines Day x
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