Beloved,
Happy Valentines Day. I know this should be written out in longhand, but….. you’ve seen my writing, and I've already done the hand made card thing.
Jack Nicholson had a line in “As Good As It Gets.” As Melvin he said to Carol “You make me want to be a better man.” It was a pretty good compliment, but from a relationship point of view, he was teetering on the edge of making her responsible for his growth, and of course after he said it he followed up with a stupid line that drove her from the room. Mistakes are the price we pay for growth.
The thing is, I’ve been working on being a better man since before we met (in fact our first correspondence followed an Imago training session) so I can’t look at you and say anything quite so romantic. I was doing the work before we met, and I do it still not for you but for me, yet in truth one reason I am truly glad I did all the work it took to turn my life around is because I know the guy I once was wouldn’t have won your heart and I love being loved by you.
So I thought this Valentines Day I would share with you (and given this blog’s demographics, only you) a little of what it is like for me to be loved by you.
It is hard for me to imagine, much less believe, how long we have been together. It all seems of an instant and yet somehow we can make time stop when we are simply together.
I never thought I’d have a kitchen as cool and beautiful as the one you are rattling around in as I write this. Every time I enter the kitchen I feel stylish, wealthy, happening, way too cool for school, all of which I am not, and most importantly, blessed, which I am.
I am blessed to have you in my life. I kind of knew that from the start when I saw your picture. I knew that you were different in all the important ways and I suspected (and you confirmed) that we could indeed “hang out” together.
There are a lot of things I could wish for, from winning the lottery to a larger practice to more sales and fame: the one thing I do not wish for is anyone else.
There are lots of things I would change in my life, from not being a good tooth-brusher as a child to my desktop clutter, an investment or two: the one thing I would not change is you.
I used to think that a lot of bad things had happened in my life. Death, betrayal, abandonment, lonliness… and now I think that if just one of those events had turned out differently I wouldn’t be the man I am today, and I wouldn’t have you in my life… and then I think, “gee… I’ve been pretty lucky all along.”
I am happy that you are a part of my life.
