On Our 8 Year Wedding Anniversary

It’s our wedding anniversary today! I can’t believe 8 years have gone by so quickly. Time must go by fast when you are married to your best friend. There are studies out there that say you shouldn’t be married to your best friend, but I know that in our case I couldn’t disagree more. You are my best friend and the only person I can see myself walking through life with. We know each other better than we know ourselves, know how to support, love, and encourage each other and we even have the same values in life, which helps keep us even closer. I don’t see how that could ever be a negative thing.

I thought I knew the person you were when we were dating and engaged, and I did, for the most part, but the longer we are together, the closer to you I feel. I have learned so much about and from you in the decade we have been together and wanted to share a few things that I have found to be true about you:

1. You’ll never not do the right thing, even if it goes against everyone else. You are the farthest thing from a follower and I love this so much about you. Quite honestly, this is hands down one of the traits of yours I admire the most. Most people who meet you quickly find that you are an intensely passionate person about certain topics: most obvious, animals and the welfare and treatment of animals. As Gandhi has said, you know a person’s character by the way they treat animals and I feel that to be so true. How could protecting and standing up for those who have no voice ever be considered a negative characteristic? I know the kind of person you are and you are the closest thing to perfect that I’ve ever known. Sure, your permanent laundry pile on the dresser can make the hairs on my arm stand up at times, but for the real things that TRULY matter, your amazing heart and the way I know you’ll stand up and fight for everyone and everything you believe in, well I will take that pile of laundry on the dresser every day for the rest of my life. Mark my words here and now.

4. You are sensitive and sweet but can also put someone in a headlock without even trying. I love that I can be by your side and know you will be the first one out there running in the street to save an animal from being hit in the road, while also being the first person to protect someone else in need. This is the exact right balance that I need in a guy. You don’t need to drive a huge Ford truck or eat bacon burgers and post about it online to feel like a man; you are perfectly content driving your tiny bright blue Mazda3 around with a permanent bag of cat and bird feed on the floor of the passenger seat for all of those stray animals you come across who may be hungry.

(Side note: The umbrella seen above is a flash lightstand umbrella, not an actual out-in-the-rain umbrella. 🙂 He was being my light tester and was clearly embracing his role.)

This and so many more qualities are reasons why I love you and love being married to you. I don’t know how to say this without sounding cheesy, but you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. You make me laugh every single day with your ridiculous, sometimes corny, sometimes dry sense of humor and I’ll never, ever get tired of that. You, these little furballs, and our family mean absolutely everything to me. Every day I have with you is the best day of my life. Happy 8th Anniversary, Adam. I love you so much.