Growing Up Together

On October 7, 1977 I met Kathy. We’d been “set up” by my roommate a the time and his fiance — they had decided we should meet.

The rest, as they say, is history.

We married in 1980. At this writing that makes it 37 years so far.

We often joke that we “grew up” together. I was just 21 when we met, Kathy less than a year younger. “Growing up” is perhaps the wrong term, but looking back it’s shocking to think about just how young we were. It’s really no surprise that my parents kind of freaked out at the thought of their only son getting married; I was a child.

But grow we did. More importantly we grew together. We learned life’s lessons, struggled with some of life’s struggles, and have just grown closer — together — as the years have passed.

Soulmate. Cellmate. Co-conspirator. The one person that I can always count on, the one person who knows me like no other.

My sixty days of gratitude aren’t in any kind of priority order. If they were, Kathy would be at the beginning and the end, and probably several stops along the way.

I chose today to express my love and gratitude for my wife for a very simple reason…

Happy Birthday, my love.