Ivy Hearts
“I wish I could take back the last few days and do them all over. Since I cannot, I will make the next ones better. I am truly sorry.”
“I am sorry, and not just for the dishes I left in the sink. I am sorry for not being the partner you deserved this week. I will be better.”
“We shared a first breath and every birthday that has come since. Nobody else has been there for every single day of my life. Only you.”
“School may be finished, but I hope you never stop being curious. Keep asking questions, reading books and wondering how things work.”
“I was too proud to say sorry, and I let it go on far too long. The truth is that I hate it when there is any distance between us.”
“I have thought a lot about what I said, and I was wrong. No excuses and no buts. You deserved better from me, and I am so sorry.”
“You apologized once for being difficult when you were younger. I did not know what you meant. I had already forgotten all of it, which is not the same as forgiving you.”
“You have helped so many families through their first days with a baby. Now it is our turn, and every nurse on that floor would be proud of you.”
“When they pinned you today, I had to look at the ceiling for a minute. All I could see was the kid who patched up every scraped knee on our street.”
“Somewhere in the middle of a busy day, I always end up thinking about you. It makes the hours go faster until I get to see you again.”
“The rules at home and the rules at your house were never remotely the same. You knew exactly what you were doing and you did it with a completely straight face.”
“The best marriages are not found. They are built, one kind day at a time. I have watched you build good things your whole life, so I am not one bit worried.”
“I was away for work for most of the years you were small and I told myself why. The reasons were all true and not one of them was worth the thing it cost me.”
“Somewhere along the way, the kid I carried on my shoulders became one of my favorite people. I love our talks, your opinions and even the times you prove me wrong.”
“I still remember the first birthday of yours we spent together. I was so nervous about the gift that I forgot to buy the cake.”
“I count down to summer break almost as eagerly as your students. Because it means long mornings, slow dinners and more time with you.”
“We grew up sharing a roof, a last name, and every secret worth keeping. Now we share a whole lifetime, and I would pick you as my sister twice.”
“I get to watch our children grow up, and I get to watch you raise them. Some days I honestly cannot tell which of the two makes me prouder.”
“You are not just raising kids. You are raising good, kind people. Every time one of them is kind to someone, I see your hand in it.”
“I should have been on your side, and instead I left you feeling alone. That is not the husband I want to be, and it is not the one you deserve.”
“I spent years trying to give you two things, roots and wings. Watching you fly off today, I think we got both of them right.”
“I miss making you pancakes on Saturday mornings, shaped like your initials. They never came out right, and you ate every one of them anyway.”
“You used to eat half the cookie dough before it ever reached the oven. I pretended not to notice, because watching you was the best part of baking.”
“When we dance today, I will probably step on your feet like I always do. But I will be holding on to every second of it, and smiling the whole time.”