Letters to Hunter + half a {decade} of LOVE

My sweet Hunter,

 

Tomorrow we will celebrate 2 years of wedded bliss that have been thoroughly enjoyed. We'll celebrate our laughs shared over the past 5.5 years, our memories that we've created and treasured for our sustenance, and we'll embrace the beauty that is another day in our lives. We always comment how our time together has felt so quick and gone-in-a-minute. Yet, we feel like we've been side by side for eons.

 

Over the last half decade we've shared grief in loss of family members and friends. We've learned how the other grieves, mourns, recovers. In the last few years I watched you handle your mom going through chemo, the prayers we prayed together {and that we're still praying}, the hope we've held out on. We know that God is always good. I'll forever remember the first time you saw your mom without hair - the way you embraced her and loved on her. That's just one of the many ways I saw your soul shine through.

 

We've learned how to agree to disagree on various things; how to fight {if you even want to call it that} fairly; the patience that goes into loving each other's flaws every day. You've learned that I'm not the happiest of humans when I'm hangry {it's a real epidemic, ya'll} and I've discovered how stress can affect your mood. But we wrestle through those areas and come out on the other side, hands held tight to each other.

 

Hunter, I wouldn't want anybody else by my side to do this thing called life. Life is hard, ugly, mean, cold; but you make it soft, beautiful, kind, and warm. My days are filled with laughter and joy because of the care that you show me. You remind me that it's OKAY to sit and not fret over the piles of laundry growing, or the dust bunnies in the corner of the room. Other times you buy into my madness and utterly surprise me with your small gestures of helping me with things around the house. You know my love language like the back of your hand.

 

And I know your love language - Words of Affirmation. Boy, your heart soars and thrives on kind words, uplifting phrases, sentences that make your heart go pitter patter. I'm here to tell you now and every day - I love you Hunter. Thank you for leading me in all the many ways. Thank you for always striving to be better, do better, love deeper, grow in life. You are one hell of a man, husband, son, brother, brother-in-law, son-in-law, and one day, father. You are such a blessing in my life and many others. I truly cannot and will not imagine doing life without you.

 

I've loved you from the beginning, always have and always will. My heart is yours forever, gentle giant.