A freeverse and quite possibly pathetically sappy open letter to my husband…

Can you believe it’s been a year?

I love you so much, and I don’t say it as often as I should. I try, instead, to show you how I love you through my actions, through those small grasps on your thumb that you get amused by, or the gentle squeezes once in a while, doing household chores, or through chili and turkey and other food experiments that seem to be successful. You eat them, anyway... so if they are truly awful, I'm glad you're not brusing my cooking trial too much. :)

You make me feel like the luckiest woman on Earth, Erich. Knowing that at the end of difficult days I’ll be returning to a home that’s loving and secure and, messes aside, a completely healthy relationship is something I know not all women (or men) get to experience. I know I’m far from perfect as a human being, yet you’re always telling me that within our little family circle, I am. (I still don’t believe you, of course… but I think that’s mostly to prevent myself from getting an overinflated ego).

And actually, I think I am the luckiest woman on Earth. I have you.

You remind me to laugh at myself, you encourage me to always improve myself, and you watch amusingly as I go through fandom addictions just like I am amused at yours. We’re so frighteningly alike in so many ways, yet different enough that we can challenge and complement each other. I hope that I am as good a wife to you as you are a husband to me.

While growing up, I was convinced that I’d never find someone because I was just so geeky and atypical. I never was into the girly stuff at all – no Barbies, hated makeup, could care less about fashion or hairstyles, despised all of the fangirl b.s. (for the most part, anyway). I preferred sci-fi, computers, dirt bikes, losing myself in books and scraping my knees as I went exploring the sandstone cliffs near the house. And even now, as you know, I’m not all that keen on being girly most of the time. To find a guy that not only tolerates that but loves so many of the things that I enjoy – I am truly blessed.

Happy first anniversary, hon. I love you and am thankful every day that we’re together.