15 Years and Counting

At work I received a phone call from the security guard at the front desk. "There's a plant down here for you."

Hmm. A plant? Maybe a gift from an author exceptionally pleased with our work on his manuscript?

Oh, no. Much, much better.

It turns out that the "plant" was, in fact, 18 stunning red and white roses from Jeff for our 15th anniversary. We've been married for 8 years but have been together for 15. Fifteen years! I'm having a hard time conceptualizing this span of time. In some ways, I feel that Jeff and I have been together forever. Yet it often seems that the time has melted away.

I know that some couples do not celebrate the date on which they became a couple. I, for one, am glad we are not such a couple. I can't imagine restarting the clock, so to speak, on our wedding day, and dismissing the 6 and a half years we spent together before that.

Happy anniversary, Jeff. The distance we've traveled in the 15 years since that first kiss is immeasurable; I am so lucky to have you as my companion on this journey.