Today is my husbands 48th Birthday. How we got to be this age is beyond me.  There are days I feel better than I did at twenty eight except now I have crushing responsibility.  To me he is still the young stud in tight jeans, leather jacket, and engineer boots, but alas in reality he is the dude in dockers with new light up sneakers.  I love him, he is not perfect, but perfect for me.

Dear E,

Happy 48th Birthday.  We have had a great year. Our kids are getting older, their issues are being dealt with, and parenting got a smidge easier giving us time to discover each other. As I say every year, I love you more today than I loved you the last year. You are passionate about what you do and you are passionate about making sure through thick and thin our family sticks together. That takes compromise and the ability to listen on both of our parts to make this work.

I love that you got to come out to the bar this week.  It was great to meet you at the after hours club with a chippy trying to pick you up.  You are still incredibly handsome and I know even though a woman was talking you up that you would be coming home with me.  I love you never think of me as a ball and chain but as your partner and best friend. Together we were able to get the band on the road and raise special needs kids. That is more than many do in a lifetime.  I love that you are trying to balance your job responsibilities and family life which are both so demanding.  I noticed this year how hard you try to get home earlier to spend time with the boys.

I love when we watch sci fi tv or Survivor together leg over leg, although I shuss you I love when you yell at the TV, especially politics.  I love when Saturday comes you are ready for the kids to go to bed so we can spend some time together after a long week.  It amazes me that after twenty years together you choose to hang Saturday night even though we don’t go out that often. I love when you get up on Fridays and help get the kids off to school so that I have it a little easier and all the while you listen to the crazy stories of the night before. I love that you are not jealous, feeling comfortable enough to share me with the bar nightlife.  I love when you wake up a little as I get into bed and say, Oh I am glad you are home and snuggle me tight then and when the kids get up early on a weekend you are the one coaxing me back to cuddles. Our kids have learned to be so physical with their affection from, you who hugs and kisses all of us all of the time. I love that you support me, supporting the kids and their issues, working so hard so that you and I have health insurance and a decent income so I can attend all the meetings, evaluations, and appointments and that you ask how they go every time even when you are so tired you are about to pop. I love that you help Ryan with his homework on the weekend leaving Aaron and I to go off to do errands giving me a break from that chore.  I love that when I went to Blog Her you handled the kids with grace and I arrived home to a very happy trio of boys/men who were perfectly fine in my absence.

You have those moments where you are a bear to live with but so do we all.  I choose to live in this house with you everyday. I choose to share the burden, the debt, and the child rearing along with the fun, the hot times, and dancing in the kitchen and listening to blogs as we cook for Aaron.  You are my family and my love.

I hope your birthday is amazing. I know you are dorky, geeky, quick tempered, and loving but still I choose you everyday.

I love you more today than I did last year.

Jo-Ann