Twenty years ago.
I met you twenty years ago. The day I met you, you were sitting in your window ledge wearing a pink(!!) gray and white long-sleeved striped polo shirt, a raggedy pair of jeans, deck shoes and a painter's cap that covered your curly (!!!!) brown hair. First words to me? "Hi. Wanna go out?" (Not many of you knew me then, so this will seem hard to believe. )I blushed beet red, looked at my shoes and shook my head no. I did this for five years. Now, don't get me wrong. You were SO handsome to me (even then) but I just couldn't do it. I was scared to death of your booming voice, flirty innuendos, loud laugh, strong opinions...EVERYTHING. But we became friends. Over the six years we spent in college together we argued, studied, partied, laughed... never went out. But eventually I DID go on that date. And here we are.
We have been married for thirteen years. We have made mistakes, taken each other for granted, hurt each other both on purpose and by accident. We've disliked each other. But more importantly; we've loved, we've laughed, cared for and about each other. We've surprised each other and best of all; forgiven.
We have built a life together; a home. Some of the rooms are dark with bad memories but before we closed those doors forever; one of us brightened it, with a kiss or an apology or the words "I was wrong. I love you" Don't get me wrong. There is plenty of pride and stubbornness to go around between the two of us. Sometimes we've simply had to agree to disagree. But we still laugh; every day. I always say it boils down to that..."Where do you need to be ...every day."
Cheech, I need to be with you every day. There is no one who loves me better. There is no one I treasure more. I'm amazed by where we've been, who we are, what we've learned. Moreover, I can't wait to see where we're headed and who we become: together.
Thank you for a perfectly flawed twenty years.
Always,
Baby Jane
