I Do...

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.
Mignon McLaughlin

Twelve years ago, I walked down the aisle and married my best friend. I'd loved him for three years, a lifetime, it seemed. Now, it seems like yesterday. Yes, we've argued and fought. We've slammed doors and I've thrown things and there were times when I really wondered if we'd ever get that thing called marriage figured out. I know that we will have days when we still don't have it figured out, but on those days, I just have to remember...
A phone call asking me if my little boyfriend needed to be cuckoled. A first date when I was too nervous to eat and you were too nervous when I asked if I could sit in the middle of your truck. The look on your Mom's face when I told her you'd made me watch you eat instead of paying for my food. Our first trip to Lexington and you buying me perfume and a watch just cause you wanted to see me smile. You dressing up for a juvenile high school prom and counting out change as we went through McDonalds to share a Big Mac extra value meal. Rainy day Sundays after church spent watching football and napping.
Freshman botany classes where you studied like a mad man, and American Government when you didn't have to... Polo cologne... long weeks when it seemed like you'd never make that late night drive home from Ohio. Mark McGuire hitting homeruns and just missing seeing him break the record. Long car trips to Belfry and Gatlinburg where I inevitably got us lost but we had fun singing along to the radio anyway. John Grisham's The Client...
You being late to the wedding and telling Jordan Bellamy to make sure he held open the door so you could run out the back and Alex and Brayton fighting over your ring and you telling Alex that "Stone Cold is never doing that again." standing in the snow locked out of the car and our first married fight. Snow days and basketball games and trips...And did I mention ballgames?

Caleb. The look on your face when you found out he was a reality. His first ultrasound. Picking out a Pooh bear outfit to bring him home from the hospital. Figuring out how to put the car seat in your truck. You so scared and wanting to fight the doctor when it took him so long to get there. A million and one cappacinos from Central Baptist Hospital to keep you conscious. How his personality is so much like yours... never meets a stranger. Laughing over how mean he is... because he gets it from you.

How scared I was when you wrecked... you laying in the ER with your face all cut up asking me if I could still love you. Not knowing what to expect and thanking God that He kept you safe. Seeing how it's made you a better husband, a better father, and better person. Someone who never takes a minute for granted.

Twelve years (fifteen if you count our dating) is a long time for making memories. You have made me laugh, you've made me cry, you've made me furious... but you've also made me so very proud and amazed. I've said it before, how it is funny that God could make two people who are so very different work, but I think that's exactly why we do work. To be totally sappy (I can see you rolling your eyes)... "You Complete me. You had me at Hello." This may not be a Hollywood love story, but I'm so glad it's mine. Love you!!!