Thirteen years of marriage is…

– Having kids climb over you in bed to sleep between you but feeling closer than ever before
– Looking into each other’s eyes, remembering how they looked with fewer wrinkles and knowing how they will look with even more
– Savoring the rare chance to have hours of adult conversation the way you used to when it was a long-distance relationship
– Appreciating the friends and co-worker relationships the other person has because you love their life outside of you
– Walking away from your children and saying to your partner “l’m so done” and allowing them to take over managing the situation
– Seeing their frustration with the kids at other times and saying, “Hey, I’ll take over. You take a break.”
– Seeing elderly couples holding hands and instead of smiling and thinking “I hope that’s us when we’re old,” smiling and thinking “That will be us when we’re old.”
– Sharing the goofiest of your obsessions with each other (Dungeons and Dragons) and taking genuine delight that you still get to share new things about your interests with each other
– Laughing in amazement when you hear a story from their childhood that you never heard because you thought you knew them all already
– Looking forward to their account of their day because you know no matter how ordinary it was that they’ll put their own spin on it
– Working to hold your tongue and just trust them when they do something different from the way you would do it
– Falling more in love with them as you watch them interact with your kids because it’s a totally different side of them that changes as the kids grow up
– Knowing what that smile means when you squeeze their shoulder
– Needing to do math to figure out how long you’ve been married

Happy 13th anniversary to my wonderful husband! May we have many, many more.