36 seems so young. Some people are just finding their spouses at this age. Some have just gotten married. Me? I have spent half of my life with my spouse already. At the young age of 36. We used to joke when we were younger about how when we were 36 (gasp! 36 was so old back in our early 20's) we would have been together half of our lives and how from that point on we will have been together longer than we have been apart.
That joke has become a badge of pride. Bob and I have defeated the odds. Not only did we start dating when we were just children really, but we had our first child young (I was two days shy of my 21st birthday). We married young (at 22). The stress of growing up together should have broken us apart statistically. The bigger stress of having a child out of wedlock, young, without any life experience, and no idea what we were doing should have broken us too.
But it didn't. Because we have always been stronger than the odds.
We are two peas in a pod. I would prefer to spend my time with no one else but him. He is truly my best friend in the whole wide world. He knows me inside and out. He has seen me at my absolute best and my utter worst.
There have been times when we both have wanted to walk away - for him it was in the beginning of our journey into parenthood. For me it was several years later. But we choose to stick it out because life together may have been hard, but life apart would have been harder.
I have had some of the best times of my life with Bob. We have laughed and enjoyed each others company. We have created some amazing memories.
I have also shared some of my darkest times with him too. There is no one I would rather go through the darkness with than him.
We are opposites in every way possible. Sometimes that drives us crazy, but most times it is what draws us in towards one another.
He is patient, kind, and loves me through and through. He can also be a colossal jerk. (Although I am not sure he would ever admit that.) I am creative and zany and think outside the box. I love him in all the ways I know how. I can also be a colossal b%^ch. (I can admit that.)
From shortly after day 1, I knew that he was going to be my life partner. I am lucky that I did not have to go through years and years of relationship angst trying to find "the one". He was placed right in front of me at a very young age. Luckily, we were both able to see that we have something valuable, something sacred, something worth fighting for, no matter what the cost.
We have built and invested in our family - in our children - and in the bonds that the 6 of us have. We have chosen our family first & foremost no matter what the cost because we both feel very strongly that our children, our relationship with one another, and the family unity that the 6 of us have is head and shoulders more important than anything else this world has to offer.
Bob is the ultimate family man. He is the kinda guy that I wish more men aspired to be like. He is quietly loving, supportive, hard working. He values his time not only with our children, but with me. His idea of a good time is to hang out with the 5 of us and create memories. He is an equal partner in the life that we have created. He is a willing participant. I could not not imagine being married to someone who was not equally as involved as I am in my children and the life I am building with them and for them.
He would do anything for me. He would do even more for our children. Every day the best gift he gives me over and over again is his willing participation in his role as a dad. My girls have a good measuring stick as to what a good man, husband, and father looks like. They have something to help guide them in choosing their spouses (should they decide to get married). My boys are growing up to know what it means to be a gentleman. To be an involved father. To be a loving husband. They have something in which to strive for as they become men. These examples of what a good husband should look like and be like are gems because they are sorely lacking in more households than we want to admit as a nation.
As our children grow and eventually move on to lives of their own outside of our home I look forward to the life that we have just him and me. We have plans to spend a year living on a boat. A year in an RV traveling the nation. And then settling down into a tiny house (think 400 square feet or less) in a gorgeous location living out the rest of our lives there. Even though most of our time together has been focusing on our family I am glad that we also have dreams for just the two of us so that when the kiddos are gone we will still have a connection together worth fighting for.
God picked the perfect match for me and placed in him in a hallway 18 years ago in our college dorm for me to see as I opened my door as I went down to the laundry to change a load of laundry. I am lucky that my eyes were willing to see the life long gift in front of me. My heart is full of gratitude that I have been given so much in the man I call my husband.
Happy 14th Anniversary to my partner in crime. Thank you for being a wonderful provider, leader, father, husband, and friend. You are my best friend in this whole wide world. You are my adventurous partner in crime. Thank you daring to live a life outside of the box with me. I wouldn't walk this path with anyone else, but you by my side (even when you are driving me crazy). Here's to many more decades of life together. Salute! Peaches.
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