Life & Story A Decade in Scenes · 2026
A Photo Essay for a Wedding Anniversary
StillUs.
Married
June 14, 2016
Anniversary
10 Years
Where
Lisbon → Austin
Guests
62 Loved Ones
Still UsThe Story

The
Story.

01
By the Numbers
A decade counted in ordinary days.
Stats · pp. 14
02
The Turn
The year everything nearly ended.
Section · pp. 22
03
The Curve
Twelve seasons of showing up.
Chart · pp. 36
04
Then & Now
Five things that changed, and one that didn't.
Matrix · pp. 48
05
Voices & Encore
What the family remembers, and the invitation ahead.
pp. 60–72
Chapter 01By the Numbers · 2016–2026
By the Numbers

A marriage
told in
five figures.

Read top to bottom. Every figure comes from the family calendar, the travel log, and the box of ticket stubs kept in the hallway closet.

3,652
Days Married
From June 14, 2016 to this June — not one of them wasted.
3
Homes Together
Two apartments in Lisbon, a rental in Denver, and the house on Birch Street they finally own.
2
Children
Mateo, born 2019, and Sofia, born 2022 — baptized in the same church as the wedding.
41
Postcards Mailed
One from every trip, taped inside a scrapbook that lives on the kitchen shelf.
11wk
Longest Time Apart
A 2021 deployment — the single hardest season of the ten years.
Chapter 02The Turn
Still Us · A Photo Essay
02
The Turn

The year
we almost
lost it.

In 2021, an eleven-week deployment and a miscarriage landed in the same season. They spent it writing letters instead of talking — the first time in nine years they'd gone quiet with each other.

Chapter 03The Curve

Twelve seasons of showing up
for each other.

Date nights · logged
Their first year's pace
112
Date Nights, Year Ten
After the silence of 2021, they started a standing Thursday date — no phones, no exceptions. It never stopped.
1209060300
Y1Y2Y3Y4Y5Y6Y7Y8Y6*Y8Y9Y10
Chapter 04The Scenes

The
scenes.

Five scenes carry the decade — the meeting, the move, the wedding, the quiet year, and the return. Each one hangs as a photograph on the wall at home.
01

Meet

A rooftop birthday party in Lisbon, 2014. Daniel spilled a drink on Elena's shoe and apologized in the wrong language.

02

Move

Elena followed Daniel to Denver in 2015 — two suitcases, one folding table, and a lease neither could really afford.

03

Marry

June 14, 2016, in her grandmother's courtyard. Sixty-two guests, a broken folding chair, vows written the night before.

04

Endure

2021: deployment, distance, and a loss neither spoke about for months. They chose to stay anyway.

05

Return

2022 onward: Mateo, then Sofia, the house on Birch Street, and the Thursday dates that never stopped.

2014 Meet 2015 Move 2016 Marry 2021 Endure 2024 Return
Chapter 05Then & Now

Then
and now, in five rows.

Sourced · the family calendar, travel logs, and two people who kept receipts · 2026
Dimension
Now · 2026
Wedding · 2016
The Turn · 2021
Home
Birch Street, paid down
One rented apartment, Lisbon
Split across two continents
Together, nightly
Every night, by choice
Every night
Eleven weeks apart
Family
Mateo, 6 · Sofia, 3
Just the two of them
Expecting, then grieving
Ritual
Thursday date · no exceptions
No standing date
Letters, once a week
Anniversary
10th
Day one
5th, nearly skipped
Chapter 06Voices
"
Voices · Family
They didn't stay together because it was easy. They stayed because every single time, they chose to come back.
— Rosa Reyes
Daniel's mother
Chapter 07Encore
An invitation

Ten years.
One more
celebration.

01

Save the date

Saturday, June 14, 2026 — the same courtyard, again, at 5pm.

02

Bring a memory

One photo or one story from any year of the ten. We'll read a few aloud.

03

Toast with us

No gifts — just the people who watched this story happen.

Scan to RSVP
reyesanniversary.com/2026