My Valentine

 A couple of months after Chris and I were married, I was in Barnes and Noble skimming a book on birth order when I came to a section about its significance in marriage.  It said that a marriage of two oldest is the worst combination possible.  Oldest children tend to be type A, strong willed and perfectionistic.  Obviously, two people like that living in the same house trying to navigate life will have problems.  Chris and I are both oldest children and we definitely had our share of "issues".  I didn't buy the book and I walked around in the depths of despair for the next few days lamenting our plight.  What did we do?  We missed the boat.  Oh no.
Silly girl.  Ten years later, I am proud that Chris and I have defied the odds (according to that author at least) and are thriving in a marriage of oldests.  Ironically, I am now certain that for us, our similarities are actually our strength as a couple.  We have discovered that two oldests working together can do anything.  That said, without our shared faith, we never would have survived to even our fifth anniversary.  We have been through some really extreme, hard things that I have not been able to write about here.  Our marriage is definitely a God thing.  It is because of Him that we met and it has been through Him that we have survived.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I used to think that that butterfly feeling I felt in my stomach around a special guy was "it"--LOVE.  Now I know that the immense gratitude that fills me when I think of my husband, my rock, is the real thing.  Lucky me.

C--I thank God for the person He made when He made you.  He truly broke the mold because you are one-of-a-kind special.  I know He was thinking of me too.  First--because I was already out there toddling around :) but mostly because you are exactly who I need.  To a tee.  (And you're a hunk).  Te quiero.  A