Like Re-Reading Your Favorite Book...

Yesterday was my husband's 24th(!) birthday! We had a fabulous day of staying in bed until 11, muffins for breakfast, sushi for lunch, movie date, and Mexican for dinner (with a surprise from friends). It was laid back, full bellied, and my favorite kind of day.

Days like that lead me to think about how lucky I am to know a human-being so intimately and so completely. If you slow down enough to really think about what a miracle it is that two people could ever love each other equally, you get kind of awestruck. Think about how many couples miss each other by timing, or unmatched feelings, or dislike entirely! I could not imagine spending my life with any single human other than M, and it's pretty phenomenal if you think about that.

I was talking with by BFF the other day about how incredible it would be to be able to get to know a loved one over again. After a few years of marriage you've heard almost every story, you know what they want on their chipotle, you have seen most of the old pictures. You get to know them so well that when a token fact that you didn't already know comes out, it's way more exciting than it really should be (M loves coffee cake! OMG NO WAY?!).

Imagine your most beloved: wasn't it such a privilege to get to know them? You may not have thought about it like that when you were in he midst of it, but looking back on it, wasn't it kind of magical? It's kind of like reading your favorite book. You introduce everyone you know to it. You tell your friends to read it, you lend it out, and you beam when someone tells you that they love it too! The book is so dear to your heart that you wish you could re-read it again for the very first time. That's how I feel about my beloved---and not just my husband, but my dear friends too!

We are lucky to have relationships; to have deep, true connection with people. I am honored to have passed each test to earn the trust, honesty, and unconditional love of my husband and some very close friends.

I can't wait to get to know my beloved deeper as time and bonds grow. I promise to not take for granted the privilege it is to get to know someone on a deeper level. And I think you should too.

With love,

xo/Austin