6 Years, 6 States and Still Best Friends

Six years ago, Kristine and I were sealed for time and all eternity.  And while I know that we have eternity to be together, she has been in Salt Lake for three days and I feel like forever has come and gone!  That's what it feels like when you are apart from the person that makes you who you are and who you want to be.  I have always known that my Heavenly Father loved me, despite the grief I sometimes give Him.  What became evident when Kristine became my wife, and I her husband, is that He loved me enough to know exactly what I needed to become the person that He needs me to be.  Is it possible to express gratitude for something so superlative?

"We were supposed to be done saying goodbye."

That's what Kristine told me the night before she returned home for her brothers' graduation and my brother's wedding.  The first summer that we "dated," we had been writing and talking on the phone for nearly 7 months, discovering what can only be described as a bridge from something unknown to something so familiar.  As I remember that first summer, and particularly that first, most difficult goodbye, my mind is forced to settle on how neatly she fit into my arms.  She seemed to draw the loose ends and insecurities that had characterized my life and consume them.  They were swallowed up in the promise that I could do anything with her by my side.  Kristine lifted me, and continues to do so, when so many others either knowingly or unknowingly cut me down.

I am proud to be your husband.  I am proud to call you my wife.  I am proud to have you as the mother of our daughter.  The scriptures say that God will show Himself to us in His own way and in His own time.  I see Him, and feel His love every time I see you smile.  I feel His support every time I take your hand.  I know He is there every time I come home to my girls.  You, Kristine, are everything that I hope for, everything that I live for and the one person I love more than any other.

Happy Anniversary!