Happy "Birthday" Darling!

This is the day that James and I refer to as "Our Birthday." It's the anniversary of the day we met - the "birthday" of us. It's been 30 years today since that happened, and we still celebrate every year. This is the only photo we have of that day...

We met at a church picnic in Wisconsin - I had been forced to attend by my father, and James happened to be visiting his friend (the son of the couple hosting the picnic). We were introduced and chatted briefly. I thought he was cute, smart, and funny. Plus he had a nice butt (hey - I like what I like). After picnic food we were told we could ride the horses IF we could find them. They were nowhere around, so we decided to look for them. We had to climb through a fence to get into the pasture. Being a gentleman, he lifted the top wire of the fence and held out his hand to steady me. I took his hand and *ZAP* - instant electricity! We ended up holding hands for hours. We walked through the fields and woods. We walked along the road. We walked and talked all afternoon. At one point he picked a bouquet of wild flowers for me... I was hooked! I wanted the day to last forever.

Of course, eventually we walked our way back to the house - where we learned that the horses had found their own way home right after we left. We got into a bit of trouble for disappearing for the afternoon, but I don't think either of us cared. We rode horses for a while, just because... then he played his guitar and sang for me. I still remember myself as that young woman - completely smitten by this handsome "older" man who picked flowers for me and wrote songs and sang to me and made me feel like I was the most important person in the world...

...and to this day he's still that man. The man I started falling in love with on that sunny July afternoon. The man I married nearly eight years later. The man I miss even when he's only gone for an hour. The man I still want to fall asleep with and wake up next to. The man who still picks wild flowers and sings to me. The man whose hand I will always want holding mine as we stroll through life together.

I love you, James. Happy birthday to us!