June 17th 2011

15 years. I was 15 years old and he was 19. He was the best friend of the guy I had been trying to date for 3 years. He was handsome and charming. He was the perfect gentleman and actually listened to what I had to say. We talked on the phone for hours and when I finally got up the courage to tell him that I liked him, he responded without hesitation – he liked me too. I was thrilled. And minor-ly irritated that he made me say it first. From then on, we were inseparable. He drove almost 100 miles every day to pick me up from high school, drive us around and take me home every night before going back home himself. Every weekend we went to the movies, to whatever game I was cheering at, to the lake, to church, to wherever we could think of. He spoiled me rotten; showered me with gifts and treated me like a queen.


He taught me about love and devotion; he never wavered in his love for me. Not then and not since. He shared in my triumphs and my struggles, he joined me in my passions and brought me into his life and let me be part of me the personal, special aspects of his life. He has been my biggest cheerleader and my most honest critic. He has seen me at my absolute worst and pushed me to continue to excel toward my best. He believes in me and he supports me. He knows me better than any other person and loves me more than any other human on this planet.

In the time I’ve known him, Lowell has irritated me, infuriated me, hurt me and disappointed me but much more frequently, he humbles me with his devotion, amazes me with the depth of his love, forces me to face difficult truths both for my own good and for the good of our family, pushes me to achieve my dreams simply by believing that I can succeed, and makes me so proud of his ability to make the difficult choices and accept the heavy responsibility that he carries to support our family. There are so many things about him that I admire – his work ethic; his ability to laugh in the midst of stressful situations; his dedication to his children and to me; his commitment to his friends; how well he drives; how little he cares about what other people think… And so many other things.

There are definitely things that I would change about the past 15 years if I could, but there is no way that I would ever change who I’ve shared these years with. I love my husband so incredibly much and I am so blessed by having him in my life. I love that my children will grow up with him as a father and that they will learn from his example. Lowell is still teaching me about letting go, enjoying life, accepting responsibility and not needing the approval of the people in my life in order to be happy.

No words can begin to express how much I love my husband and just how blessed I feel to have him in my life. He's my forever. And I'm his girl. What could possibly be better?