20 Years? Really?

Hubby and I had our very first kiss 20 years ago today and we've been together ever since. No we weren't 10, but we were young. If I can figure out how to get old pictures into our computer, I'll post an old school pic sometime. For now, this picture is as retro as we get. It's just before we went to meet Buttons. Our plate is pretty full today with pre-school, picking up our CSA, and swimming lessons but we're all going to dinner at a nice place that is also kid friendly.

I don't say too much about Hubby because he's pretty private, but he is a wonderful husband and father. He is thoughtful, caring, funny and loving. I'll tell you just one of my favorite things about him. When we're in the middle of a disagreement, he will often give me a hug. Not to shut me up, not to make what we're discussing unimportant, but a genuine I-love-you hug. He's a fairly quiet person, so it takes people a while to get to know him so let me just tell you he's the best. I used to say I didn't deserve him, then I said no one else could deserve him either. Now I can certainly think of ways to be a better partner to him, but I think we deserve each other. This change in thinking is not because he's changed for the worse, it's because by being with him I've changed for the better and I have more confidence in large part due to our relationship. Like I said, he's wonderful.

I've been thinking about this prose by Kahlil Gibran, which was read by my mom at our wedding and I hope you like it too.

Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

~Kahlil Gibran