I love that man...

That man would be my husband. I really do love him. We rarely keep track of anniversaries, other than the big one that happens once a year (which we have actually been known to forget-how bad is that?) but I have been thinking about it a lot lately as we approach our 21st year together.

What do I love most about him? Probably the fact that as hard as I am to live with he keeps on making the effort. Whenever he makes me bat-shit crazy I try to remember to stop and think about the fact that for every weird thing he does I have my own weird thing that drives him nuts. Somehow we have mostly been able to overlook those things.

And we are not some Pollyana couple who thinks we are immune to any sort of difficulty or heartbreak. It's just that neither one of us has the time or the energy to be worrying about bad things that "might" happen. Our philosophy has always been that we trust each other until we give the other a reason not to trust.

I actually did have a boyfriend before I met C. and while I was really just a child and very naive I thought I loved that boy. He had me convinced that love was demeaning, belittling, violent, heartbreaking. In fairness to him he was just a child too and must have grown up with that. However, even as a teenager C. was completely different from this boy.

C. has ALWAYS encouraged me to be my own person. He didn't want an appendage, he wanted a partner. He wanted me to be strong and independent and always encouraged me to have my own friends. He never wanted my world to revolve solely around him. And it's not as if this man grew up with a perfect parenting model. For those of you who know his story it's amazing he is even half the man that he has turned out to be.

So yeah, I love him. I am glad that I will be celebrating my 14th year of marriage to him this year and our 21st year as a couple. I wouldn't want it any other way. We don't have all the answers and most of the time we don't even know the questions but we keep on trying. Day in, day out.

I love you, C. Thank you for being mine.
Shana Marie