A Love Letter

Dearest Jim,

Twenty years ago today, our life together began in the little chapel in the woods that you found for us after an impossibly short courtship. Planned in six weeks, during the height of tax season, on a shoestring budget that did not include a photographer or a honeymoon but instead a celebration in our new home with just the people most important in our lives. Even then we had our priorities straight.

Walking down that aisle to the music of the classical guitarist you chose, I had no doubts, no fears and no worries. There was only you and the dream of our life together. We began the way we would go on for two decades, diving head first into new experiences without dwelling too much on the process. This has paid off for us time and again. Every choice we've made has been based on our marriage, family and happiness. We have been through more challenges than we ever could have imagined and each one has made us stronger. Our first three years of marriage alone, offered enough trials to do a relationship in, but we just kept forging ahead, hands and hearts intertwined.

Thank you for always showing up and doing the work, for sitting next to me as my equal, for holding me up when I have needed extra strength, for telling me I'm beautiful every day and still looking at me like I'm the only person in the room, for telling me you love me more times than I could count in a day, for respecting me, going along with my crazy schemes, giving me heaps of grace, encouraging my dreams, being the one who brings my ideas to life, for being a great provider for our family, for listening, learning and growing with me, for being a hands on daddy, for making us all laugh, for making me feel safe for the first time in my life. For being my shelter, my partner in crime, my best friend, my soulmate and the person who always has my back. More than anything, thank you for loving me the way every person should be loved and for giving me a life I had no idea was possible.

At last,
Jen