Happy Anniversary to me!

Seventeen years ago today, I married my best friend. We sort of eloped... we were planning a larger wedding, but things kept getting more and more crazy and out of hand, and one day we looked at each other and just sort of said, "Hey, you wanna?" The biggest problem we had was finding a justice of the peace to marry us, because it was the night of the big game- two local high school rivals were playing the end-of-season football game, and no-one would skip the game to marry us!

Since then, we've had a bit of a tradition of not actually remembering our anniversary. It started with our first anniversary when our best friends (who had stood in our wedding) knocked on our door to wish us happy anniversary. We had no idea it was a special day, and it clearly set the tone for the next few years. Since then, we've remembered three or four times, but the rest passed without our knowledge. And that's ok with us, because we feel like we show our love every day, and we try to make every day as special as we can. One day of romance is useless if the rest of the year has none!

In the past seventeen years we've moved several times for school and for work, we've been to weddings and funerals and watched our son grow from an infant to almost a man. We've bought cars and sold them, gotten college degrees, and seen a lot of life. We've dealt with health crisis after crisis, and yet through it all we're still best friends.

Looking back on the past 18 years together, I realize that he can still take my breath away when I see him unexpectedly. He's still the first one I want to share good news with, and the one I want to hold me when I'm afraid or sad. I'm looking forward to the next 18 years together to see what this big amazing world is going to come up with, and I'm so happy that he'll be by my side to watch it happen.

I love you, hon... thanks for being my best friend!