For Shaune

I was thinking about how since the kids came along we’ve had about two hours alone. For one of those hours we took turns picking lice out of each other’s hair, remember?

I was thinking about how no matter what, the kids come first now. How before they took over, I used to iron your shirts for work every morning. Back then, we wouldn’t dream of sitting on separate couches to watch a show on TV.

I was thinking about all those apartments we shared; just me, you and the dog. How we used to sleep in on Sundays and always went out for breakfast. How you used to be the only person I worried about back then.

I was thinking about all those dinners in restaurants, some fancy, some not. How we ate slower, talked about stuff, drank wine. I was thinking about how we never discussed getting married all those years. That we sort of rolled along, best friends, partners with ups and downs.

And I was thinking about our no-frills backyard wedding. Wondering if I would do it differently if I had the chance. How nice it was that when it was over, it was over. No debt, no fuss. I was thinking about how we saw eye-to-eye on it. No squabbling. One of those important things we quietly agreed on.

I like that about us, you know.

We’re not the same as we used to be. In some ways we’re better. This family we’ve created is everything to me.

I was thinking about how odd it is to tell people we're celebrating our third wedding anniversary. When we’ve been working on this for 14 years.

I was thinking about us and all of this today.

And I wanted to say happy anniversary.