I look at the pictures that were taken of us the day we married and realize that what you always say about that day is true.  You said you thought I might jump out of the car and run away….all the way to the wedding, bringing to my mind a scene from “Runaway Bride” that makes me chuckle.  Julia Roberts I’m not, but nervous as hell, I certainly was.  The pictures show a smiling me with a definite nervous rash running up my neck and on to my face.

So what if the first time I saw you, you were driving up in an old beat up Cadillac?  So what if you were temporarily unemployed?  And so what if you were an ex car salesman?  So what if you had red flags stuck all over you?  Thankfully, I could see through or around all of that…….to the man you were and still are.  So what that you marched to your own drummer and don’t put a lot of stock in “appearances”?  Truth is, I find that trait attractive because it brings alive my own rebellious and free spirit.

What did I see that day?  Sure, I saw that beat up old car coming down the road and into my driveway.  But by the time I made it to the door to open it, you were walking up the steps of the porch and time stopped.  All I could see was you and all I could feel was the instant attraction to an incredibly handsome and sexy man.  What a new thing for me.  I’d never experienced such an instantly electric response before and it took me totally by surprise. 

Thank you for hanging in there and being persistent enough to weather through my fears until I could comfortably relax into a relationship that was…. and is…. so right.  Because it wasn’t really you that I feared, but my own judgment, which I felt was severely flawed after the choices I’d made so far in my life.  I didn’t know what a good relationship felt like, so it just scared me to death. 

But, thankfully, I pushed beyond my fears and went with my heart.  It was right then and still right today……seven years later.  You spoil me rotten and I never have to worry about a thing.  You take care of me in a way I’ve never known before. 

I now have a partner in life.

Happy Anniversary, Iceman. 

Here’s to many, many more happy years. 

I love you.

Pup