23 Years

"Our wedding was many years ago. The celebration continues to this day."

     ~Gene Perret

Twenty-three years ago, on a night very much like this one, I was filled with anticipation, trepidation, excitement, and joy and I did not know where my pants were.

If that's not the start of a damn good love story, I don't know what is. 

On the morrow of that night of worry about my missing pants I was to marry the woman of my dreams.

Twenty-three years of marriage. That sounds like a long time. In some ways it is. Yet I think it's relative. A 23-year car ride would be a very, very long time. Twenty-three years in this marriage? A heartbeat.

For me, that is. She might consider this to be a long car ride. She's stayed with me though. That says something.

But the truth is, our story goes back farther than 23 years.

It actually started 29 years ago when I met the most intriguing, breathtaking, amazing person I had ever come across. Beautiful. Funny. Clever. Beautiful. Witty. Beautiful. Kind. Smart. Frustratingly beautiful. Oh, and beautiful.

You see? I am not exaggerating.

I'm not going to be trite and say it was love at first sight. Nah. Actually, I am totally going to say exactly that. It was love at first sight. The crush that hit 19-year-old me was so hard that 48-year-old me is still forgetting my own name and where I put my keys. (All her fault.)

I'm not certain I believe in fate, but there was such a confluence of circumstances that led to our meeting at the particular time and place and under just the right set of conditions that William of Occam ordered an electric razor and sat down to watch Synchronicity. 

But this is not the story of how we met nor a treatise on her adorable white socks...

...this is just a declaration that I am a damn lucky man to have met, fallen in love with, and married this woman.

Almost three decades of twists and turns and surprises. 

We met. We became friends. We became pen pals. We started a long-distance relationship. We spent all our money on long-distance phone calls. We became frequent transatlantic travelers. We promised ourselves to each other. We got engaged. We got married. Twice. We made a home. We made a family. We renewed our promises and made new vows. We grew our family. Twice more. We again renewed our promises and affirmed our love. It's complicated. I made a helpful timeline.

Over the last 23 years we have said "I do" to each other before God and family and friends four times. She is so amazing, in fact, that not only did I marry her in multiple ceremonies of more than one denomination and on two continents, but I went all SCA nerdy to win the fair maiden's favour.

She's my kind of nerd. But also very cool. I like it.

Twenty-three years of marriage. Twenty-six years of commitment. Almost three decades of friendship. And you know what? She gets smarter, funnier, and more amazingly beautiful every single day. I am not kidding.

Whew! Am I right?

OK, so back to the matter at hand. On June 29, 2019, she and I will have been married 23 years. And that is amazing for a whole lot of reasons. I'm a lucky guy. And I thank this woman, from the bottom of my heart, for 23 years (actually 29 years as explained above, but you know...) of love, bliss, adventure, learning, laughter, and companionship. 

Happy anniversary, Eppu! Rakastan sinua kaikesta sydämestäni! Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for being my partner. Thank you for being my wife. Thank you.

“So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday.”

     ~Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook