9-9-09

This man. This man who felt like home from the moment I met him. This man who grabbed ahold of my heart and would not let go. This man, whose eyes I looked into at the very young age of eighteen and immediately recognized my future. This handsome, loyal, honest, more than hard-working, funny, dedicated, testosterone-driven, adorable, decent man is my husband of twenty-five years.
And I have to take this opportunity, on the eve of our twenty-fifth anniversary and on the event of my 201st post, to say thank you.

And to mention a few of the more than a million reasons why we are where we are, today.

-Saying hello to me on the hill by the Carrier Dome.

-Knowing that you were there by seeing your dorm room light go on from my dorm room.

-Taking me to the top of a ski slope in Spring to tell me that you loved me.

-Dancing at Bugsy's and Poets.

-Eating Toasted Honey Buns with vanilla ice cream at Cosmos.

-Galaga

-Burnt Hamburgers

-Camping with Whitney.

-Springsteen concert in Saratoga Springs when he played, Who'll Stop the Rain and then he waved to us.

-Working at the library together.

-The little notes I wrote to you in the Syracuse paper that you kept in your wallet.(You still have them.)

-Knowing that my dad liked you.

-That you knew my grandfather.

-Long walks in Santa Ana.

-The smell of orange trees.

-Buying our first home in Laguna Niguel.

-Speeding in the red corvette when I was in labor with AD1. You were so excited to be able to speed for a reason!

-Becoming parents for the first time.

-Buying our second home in Laguna Hills.

-Giving birth to AD2 and noticing that she was born with a rat-tail!

-Never cutting that rat-tail.

-The way that you treated my grandma.

-The way that my grandma ADORED you!

-Putting up with my mother.

-Flowers.

-Candy.

-The Best-Man speech that you gave at Tony's first wedding.

-Angel Daughter Number Three on a very rainy day. Her deep belly-laugh.

-Chipmunk crawling up AD1's leg.

-The way that you loved my brother.

-Being pregnant, and pregnant, and pregnant, and pregnant AGAIN, and loving every minute of it.

-You putting your mouth up against my stretched belly to talk to our babies.

-The birth of AD4, our little surprise:)

-The way that our daughters all fell asleep on your chest when they were babies.

-The way that you allowed them to sit high up on your shoulders wherever we went.

-The way that AD4 would hold onto your ears.

-People asking if they are all ours.

-You showing up at all school activities and then going back to work.

-Moving to Ladera.

-Taking over the physical stuff when I became sick.

-Never complaining about my illness.

-Enjoying AD1's plays and choir performances, AD2's cheerleading, AD3's track and field competitions, and AD4's dance competitions.

-Whitney, Elijah, Becca, Mica, Cleo, Coury, Dusty, Sammy, Chloe, Harley, Jasmine, Arnie, Max Callie, Jersey, Momma and Rex!

-Hearing you come in the door everyday.

-The way that you schlep the girls wherever and whenever they need to go someplace.

-You always being there whenever we need you.

-Sea glass hunting.

-Loving you more after twenty-five years than I did on the day that I wore the white, puffy, princess dress and became your wife.
To our past, to our now and to our future.

Happy 25th, my love.