Love Letter, Birthday Style

To my husband,

We planned and schemed and waited (most impatiently) for when we would be married. We spent four years apart, commuting over and over and over again, just to spend a dinner together. A movie. A car ride.

I felt beautiful in your smile, safe in your eyes and needed in your arms. I trudged through school, through part-time jobs and through fair-weather friends because I knew that you expected more from me. I had to be strong because that's how you saw me. That's what I wanted to be for you. 

It wasn't until later that I realized the changes that you wrought on my thoughts, my habits and my actions. Things I initially did to impress you became second nature. By dating you I improved myself.

Even though we knew early on what our goal was, it didn't stop us from second-guessing ourselves. We waited because that's what was right for us, but every passing month we grew a little more anxious. We didn't know until now that we were building a skill-set that would come in useful later on down the road. Communication. Patience. How to fight fairly and with respect. Compromise. 

After a year and a half of marriage, I know in my heart of hearts that we WON. We were patient. We didn't listen to the naysayers. We didn't focus on the negativity or the distance or the differences between us. Instead we learned from these things and used them to our advantage. 

I hate that you don't cook dinner more often. So I invite you to cook with me. And you do.

I wish you would go to bed with me more often. So I smother you with kisses when I leave for work in the morning. And ask you to make the bed. And you do.

It bugs me that you can't remember to move your recyclables TO the container. So I leave you sweet love letters with to-do lists and silly pictures. And you do it all without complaining.

I'm sure that I do crazy things that flip you out too (picture hanging a million times leaving crazy holes in the wall, obsessive bathroom cleaning) but at the end of the day we share a love and understanding for each other that I will be forever grateful for. 

I married you a long time ago. In a parking lot on a college campus. Each day since then has been the choice to keep going. And I've never regretted that decision.

Your wife.