You Don't Have to Like Me: In Lieu of The Card I Didn't Buy

What can I say that hasn't already been said?

You are so much more than just my husband. More than the father of my children. More than simply my best friend.

You are the first person I think of when I wake up in the morning. The person I think of most often during the day. The person I go to sleep thinking of.

You are the person I want to share my joy with. The person I want to share my tears with. The person I need to share both with.

Yours is the strength I call on when the lid on the jar is too tight. The strength that keeps me being firm with the boys. The strength I rely on to hold me each night.

You are the father you never thought you could be. The role model you never expected to be. The man you have surprised yourself by becoming.

While our life together has not always been easy, and it hasn't always been fun, it has always been the life I wouldn't trade for any other. We have shaped each other into new, better, stronger people for having done this together. We have learned how to work together to raise a child into someone to be proud of, and who can be proud of himself. We have faced challenges and walked through fire, only to come out the other side more certain that we have made the right choice in sticking with this.

And it has always been a choice for us. We chose to be together in the beginning. We chose to stay together through the craptastic years. And we choose to continue this journey together now. This journey that we've been on for 16 years today.

Happy Anniversary. I would choose you all over again, you know.