🌙⛵💖 Life By Us: 36 Years of Love, Adventure, and the Art of Writing Our Own Story 📖✨

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In this heartfelt anniversary episode, I share a personal story that spans nearly four decades—from meeting my husband Philip as a teenager, to getting married aboard a tall ship on Lake Ontario, to the life we’ve created together as captains of our own ship.

Originally written on our 21st wedding anniversary, this reflection—titled Life By Us—looks back on our unique wedding day, the adventures we’ve embraced, and the symbols that continue to guide us: motion, journey, and the waxing and waning of the moon. From the music and milestones of the 1980s to last night’s moonlit lake, I explore how love, partnership, and creative living evolve over time.

If you’ve ever wondered how to build a relationship that thrives through change, or how to honor your shared history while looking forward to the next chapter, this episode is for you. It’s a story about choosing your own course, celebrating the phases of life, and embracing the adventures still ahead.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• The story of our one-of-a-kind tall ship wedding on Lake Ontario
• Why “Life By Us” became our personal mantra
• Reflections on the moon’s phases as a metaphor for love and growth
• A celebration of 36 years together and the adventures still to come

Whether you’re in a long-term relationship, just starting out, or simply love a good love story, this episode will inspire you to chart your own course and be the author of your own life.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey there.
Yesterday was our 36th weddinganniversary.
15 years ago, in 2010,.
I wrote this passage and Iremember thinking that day, all
those years ago, that one dayI'd maybe I always have been.

(00:23):
I called it life by us.
30 years ago, I met Philip.
That's when life as I knew itchanged.
I was only 15, just two yearsolder than our Haley is now.
I have to admit, I can start torelate to the panic that set in

(00:46):
when my parents realized theywere losing me.
1980.
Records and ghetto blasters,michael Jackson and Michael
Jordan, reagan the Pope,assassination attempts, the
royal wedding.
I had my own phone in mybedroom.
Now that was cool.

(01:06):
I still remember the number.
Don't think speed dial evenexisted.
We actually had to memorize thenumbers.
Philip and I used to talk onthe phone for hours at a time,
often falling asleep while wetalked in bed.
It would drive my parents crazy.

(01:28):
They'd never survive Facebook.
So here I sit on my bed lookingout over the city of Burbank at
the beginning of yet anothernew chapter of our life, waiting
for the cable guy to installthe internet.
Today marks our 21st weddinganniversary and my laptop, in

(01:49):
some kind of a time warp, hasstuck itself on 1969.
I was five years old then, toofar back for my purposes here.
I couldn't resist looking justnow to see what day August 12th
was in 1980, a Tuesday, probablyjust before we met in the early
fall for the cabaret auditionsLife before Philip.

(02:12):
I had to reset the time zone onmy laptop too.
It felt good, setting it toWest Coast time.
It seemed somehow apt that Ibegin this writing endeavor on
August 12th, our 21st weddinganniversary.
We got married in 1989 aboardthe tall ship the Challenge.

(02:32):
It was a beautiful Saturdayevening on Lake Ontario.
I remember when my dad proudlywalked me onto the ship, someone
shouting from the shore makeher walk the plank.
Little did he know that jumpinginto deep, uncharted waters
with Philip was not onlysomething I was prepared to do

(02:54):
but has become our chosen modusoperandi, our mantra, our way of
life.
The wedding was beautiful, orso I'm told.
In the handful of photos thatexist, everyone looks happy and
young.
We don't have even one framedpicture of us at our wedding.
In fact, the photos are in aphoto trunk in Philip's mom's

(03:17):
basement somewhere.
No wedding planner, no bachelorparties, no flower girls.
It's funny.
We're probably one of thehappiest married couples I know,
and yet neither of us wear ourrings.
There are no signs anywherethat it is actually official.
I guess we've just never neededto be reminded.

(03:38):
Those vows were made when wewere teenagers.
I would have loved to have beena guest at our ceremony, though
.
I mean, how often do you get achance to go on a boat for a
wedding?
Neither of us is religious,which is why we chose neutral
ground.
It's no surprise in retrospectthat the event was one of a kind
.
Even then, we had a knack forevent producing.

(04:01):
The fact that we chose a shipto exchange our vows of a life
together could not have beenmore fitting.
Motion and journey, two verystrong symbols in our life.
Together, new adventures,destinations uncharted.
There were 40 special humanswho sailed into the sunset with

(04:24):
us to celebrate that hot Augustnight, and they came from all
sides of the family and bothsides of the ocean.
Some are still with us and somehave sailed on, but the family
bond has remained strong on bothsides.
Last night, 36 years later, Iwatched the moon rise over the

(04:50):
lake.
Its reflection grew closer likea golden carpet rolling out
toward me as it ascended to thestarry sky, the same moon that
shone.
All those years ago, john, allthose years ago, on August 12th

(05:17):
1989, our wedding day, the moonwas in the waxing gibbous phase,
meaning it was more than halfilluminated, growing to full.
How apt for a young couple onthe cusp of beginning their life
together.
Like moonbeams, we grewbrighter as we reached for the
stars together.
Last night, on our 36th, themoon was in its waning gibbous

(05:43):
phase, which means bright butgradually shrinking after the
full moon.
But we are not the moon, and Ismile knowing we have remained
the captains of our ship, theauthors of our story.
Life by us, our life together,still shines brightly and my

(06:09):
sails are ready to unfurl forthe next adventure.
Happy anniversary, my love.
I'm Lisa Hopkins.
Stay safe and healthy, everyone, and remember to live in the
moment.