I remember the way you looked the very first time I met you. I remember what you were wearing. I remember the way your hair framed your beautiful face. I remember that you were on the phone and were distracted enough by your call that I could look at your incredibly tan, incredibly muscular legs and think, “Wow.”

Wow. That word still applies, you know. Probably not in the same way it did in July, 1998 but it still applies. Back then, the wow was superficial. I didn’t know you yet. I didn’t love you yet. I didn’t yet know that you were the love of my life. All I knew was that I wanted to get to know you better.

Getting to know you wasn’t easy. You were skeptical of me. I can’t say I blame you but I was determined. I wore you down. I kept loving you until one day, you couldn’t help but love me back. Then, one day, in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant, I asked you to marry me. I asked then and there because I couldn’t wait for the next chapter to start. I couldn’t wait for the “perfect moment” because the only perfect thing was being with you.

But even then, I didn’t know how much I could love you. Through the years we’ve grown up together. Through incredible highs and incredible lows we’ve had each other and that, my beautiful wife, is something I never knew could be when I first laid eyes on you so long ago.

Of course, becoming a parent with you has made me love you even more. I love watching you interact with the kids. I love that our kids have turned out so well all because of you and your vision for what you wanted our kids to become. You help me become a better father and, I hope, a better husband.

Here’s to another year of love, my beautiful wife. May you always know how much I love you and how much Swee’Pea and TheMonk love you as well.