Today is my anniversary.

After the post from a few days back, I felt it necessary to "vent" why I love the man I married... I often post the things that drive me crazy, so to be fair, I need to tell you why I love him so much... 8 reasons for our 8th anniversary.

1) He makes me feel safe. They say that your spouse should be your best friend, and he is most certainly that... he is my safe place to land, he will gently pick me up when I fall, and will be with me every step of the way as I get my feet back firmly underneath me. My life is in his hands and I trust him completely.

2) He makes me laugh. We can be having a heated discussion about something, and just when I'm about to go from friendly banter to angry, he will say something that makes me laugh out loud!! Our senses of humor work together like music.

3) He is a wonderful father to my children. Yes, they are his too, but I gave birth to them and feel like a preditory animal about them, and I loved them even before I knew him... He is all I ever wanted for my kids and I take such delight in watching him interact with them. It makes my heart spill over to see how much he loves them

4) He cheers louder than I do at USC games! This may sound trivial, but he loves rooting for SC because I went there and I root for them. He has been so wonderful at reaching out into my world and meeting me there - he enjoys my friends from college and my youth, he loves Jimmy Buffet because I do... while we have many things that are "ours", he has just fit seemlesly into the life I had before him, too.

5) He's cute! I remember my friend from High School, Margaret Blaydes, said once that she didn't really care how cute a guy was, so long as he was kissably-cute, meaning she didn't recoil from the sight of him after a kiss... well, Steve is mighty hunky, IMHO, and I love looking at him. Still!

6) I love his family. Many folks complain about their inlaws. Many folks really dislike their inlaws. Not me - Steve comes from a great family, with wonderful parents and sisters! Warren & Greta would come out and stay here in AZ for 3 months, and it was wonderful. To some, this sounds like the stuff of nightmares, but truly, it was teriffic having them here.

7) He loves my family. I come from a small family, but we have our share of Fruitcakes! (me being one!) My family is the antithesis of his family and he loves them all just the same. He made my father very happy in the last years of his life, giving him the father-son relationship he'd always wanted with his own child but never had. When my father died, it was the first time in nearly 10 years I'd seen Steve cry.

8) I cannot imagine my life without him. He is a part of me, as much as my own skin. We are a team - and a good one. Where one is weak, the other is strong. He is my one true love, my soulmate and partner in everything. I would rather spend time with him than just about anyone else on earth.

Happy Anniversary my love - I feel so blessed to be your wife!