Perfect Match

Chad and I recently wore matching t-shirts. His said “One with my wife.” Mine said “One with my husband,” and they both said “We go together” on the back. We were just totally adorbs.

Flashback to 1999. Chad and I were gearing up for our very first Christmas together. We were living the west Nashville life, just minutes from downtown, rubbing elbows with huge country stars (ok, so we were spotting them at Burlington Coat Factory and hiding behind racks while pointing and giggling). Life was good, I had my first job and we lived in our big, haunted old house. We had just had our first big fight–over the aluminum Christmas tree we had found in the garage. But, that’s another story.

For our first Christmas, Chad had this crazy idea that we should dress in matching outfits. I think turtlenecks and vests were mentioned. Well, I was just hitting my stride as a thrift-store expert (and the thrift stores in Nashville in 1999 were pretty incredible), and I wasn’t feeling the whole dress-like-twinkies idea. I shot him down. He took it like a man. But, I have always, from that moment forward, regretted refusing to dress alike on that first Christmas. I was just too cool for such things. And, I missed out on what was actually a very sweet and romantic idea.

I’ve learned not to be too cool for anything. It only leads to missing out on a lot of fun. So, I felt like God was giving me a second chance to enjoy the nerdiness of wearing matching outfits when I won these “One with my spouse” shirts from a blogger. So, we went for it. And, it was really fun and we were totally cute and I bet even though lots of people saw us and thought, “DORKS!” deep down in their hearts they were probably wishing that their husband or wife would boldly declare their love in t-shirt form. After all, y’all, you’ve only got one husband or wife. You may as well flaunt your love and let the world know that you’re not too cool to be romantic or sweet or cheesy.

So, when you see Chad and me showing off our matching shirts, you may make fun. You may point and laugh. You may roll your eyes. But, I know the truth. You’re totally jealous. And, I feel blessed that after all these years Chad didn’t laugh in my face when I suggested we dress alike. After I crushed his identical turtleneck dreams all those years ago, I totally deserved it. Love is grand, people. Don’t be afraid to shout it from the rooftops. Or from your t-shirts.