Every necklace
“When I look back on my life, every good chapter has you in it. You are the best part of my story, and I am so glad you were born.”
“For a lot of those kids, your classroom is the best part of their day. Coming home to you is the best part of mine.”
“I have heard a lot of beautiful sounds in my life, and your laugh is still the best. I have spent our whole marriage trying to hear it one more time.”
“People say the first years of a marriage are the best. They have not met us. Every year with you has been better than the last one.”
“We are going to be very old people in a smaller house with a louder television. I have thought about it more than I have ever let on, and I am not worried.”
“When things get scary for your patients, you are the calm in the room. I have always known you had that steady heart. Now a lot more people get to see it too.”
“You care for strangers all day, and you still come home and care for us. I do not know how you do it, but I am thankful every single day.”
“I know your feet hurt and your shift ran long again. So tonight, dinner is handled and the couch is all yours.”
“Every year you tell me the lights are crooked, and every year you are right. I have never fixed them, because I love hearing you say it.”
“Everyone asks about the date and the venue and whether we have settled on the numbers. Not one person has asked the only question that ever mattered, and I answered it years ago.”
“If I could give you one thing, it would be to see yourself through my eyes. Only then would you realize how truly special you are to me. Believe in yourself as much as I believe in you, sweetheart.”
“You told me about a student who finally got it, and you were glowing for days. That glow is why you teach, and it is why I am so proud of you.”
“Today you are off duty, and the rest of us are running the house. Put your feet up and let us handle the noise for one day.”
“The day you arrived, I held you and promised to do my very best. I have not always gotten it right, but I have loved you every single day.”
“Watching you receive your nursing pin was one of the proudest moments of my life. You chose a job that asks a lot of the heart, and yours is more than ready.”
“I still remember how my hands shook the day I asked you to marry me. You said yes before I finished the question, and I have been grateful ever since.”
“I may not carry you in my arms anymore, but I will always carry you in my heart. Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you know.”
“You pack a diaper bag like you are heading out on a three week expedition. And somehow, every time, you have exactly what our baby needs.”
“You are starting over in a new city, with new streets and new faces. I know it feels big, but you have never been one to shrink from something big.”
“I have had jobs I liked and jobs that were a waste of a good decade. It made less difference than it should have, because the drive home was the same.”
“I hope the drive home after a long shift gives you a few quiet minutes. Use them to remember how much good you did for people today.”
“Some of my favorite talks with you happened in the car, with nowhere to be. You told me things on those drives that you never said at the dinner table.”
“People sometimes ask me what I am most proud of in my life. I never have to think about it. The answer is always you.”
“Of all the lessons you will ever teach, the first one is the easiest. You are teaching our baby what it feels like to be completely loved.”