You are not the husband I would have chosen for me.
I would have chosen someone who votes like me, thinks like me, never gets mad at me, and thinks meltdowns are the cat's meow. I would have chosen someone who thinks dishes are the most exciting things in the world to wash and dry and can't wait to do them every day.
And if I had made that choice, it wouldn't have been the best choice, by any stretch of the imagination. As I look back over ten years of marriage this Valentines day, I know that I am a better person because I have known you. I know that I am a more loving person because you've loved me. And, I know I am a more patient person because I've been married to you. If that sounds like a disclaimer that lands itself in 8 point font at the bottom of a marriage contract ... then I've written these words poorly.
I so often hear of couples whose marriage has survived decades of time that the marriage has had its ups and downs. As I get in my imaginary reflective airplane and fly over our marriage -- the good, the bad, the funny, the frustrating, the sweet, and the routine - I see a landscape that has changed and grown, brought us closer together, nourished us into better people, and is painted in colors that for the rest of both of our lives will be entirely stored in memories that are both warm and good. I guess I have God to blame for that.... all the downs get woven into a landscape of fabric that heads ever up.
This Valentines Day, I bought you a card containing words crafted by some clever chap at Hallmark about the "stuff that only boring old married people like us understand." While our boring moments appear to be few and far between and we have trouble acting our age... that may change in the next phase of our marriage.
Or not.
Happy Valentines Day with
Hugs and Love from your favorite firecracker
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