happy love day

“i don’t even remember before you,” i told christian last week.

 

“is that bad or good?” he looked confused.

 

i laughed. “i really need to think through these compliments. i mean it is like you covered up all my bad memories. i have you and i have childhood. i don’t have baggage or crappy memories or anything in between. you are my memory.”

 

and then he got. and he agreed.

 

i met christian on a friday night. i echoed famous last words to my roommate, “he’s not my type.” but i didn’t even know my type. honestly, i had a crushed spirit and a confused sense of trust. i had yet to date a man that believed in ME and liked ME.

 

and him? well he was in love and he decided he would prove it. he had no idea what he was getting into, hehehe.

 

less than seven months later we were married. i don’t know how he did it. somehow he had proved that he was in love with me, just the way i was. i didn’t need to become something different for him. somehow he had proved that he would be a faithful, forever partner. somehow he had become my best friend.

 

this is one of those situations where i can look any person in the eyes and tell them without a smidge of pride, “i am SO.GLAD. that i was wrong.”

 

because he is totally my type.

 

i am not sure if he knew what he was getting into when we got married. he fell in love with a traveler, my husband that hates to move or travel. he fell in love with a hyperactive, always moving, always going, 220% optimistic and very, very stubborn woman.

 

but i guess God knew what he was doing. christian and i have some pretty opposite strengths and weaknesses. now that we have learned to work them together, we know how to conquer some pretty tough stuff. we have some pretty opposite personality traits, too. and yet i watch us become closer and closer every day, best friends inside and out and i watch our “opposites” become “wholes.”

 

marriage is such a crazy, cool thing!

 

we’ve done a lot in six years. we moved apartments more than christian wants to remember. we’ve bought and sold cars. we changed churches, cites, countries and more. we’ve parented bio and foster kids. we’ve laughed. we’ve cried. we’ve stared at each other stinking.mad. we’ve said “i’m sorry” a lot. we’ve held hands every step of the way.

 

who knows what comes next. i don’t even care. i have my best friend standing beside me. he believes in me and i believe in him. everyone else might think we are a little crazy but we think we can conquer the world.

 

Anniversary-Large from Marie Burtt on Vimeo.

 

p.s. we were married the same weekend as my parents, only thirty-two years later. they were married the same weekend as my grandparents (i think thirty years apart). we decided to dance to the same song my parents danced to. today is actually my parents’ thirty-eighth anniversary and sunday is christian’s and my sixth anniversary. my parents have been my inspiration, proving a marriage is built on commitment not feelings. they have been my conviction, reminding me that marriage takes sacrifice and dying to self. they have a crazy cool marriage. happy anniversary, mama and daddy!