You're just what I wanted.

I clearly remember the day I met Darius. He was a trainer, I was a trainee. I won't go as far as to say it was love at first sight, but I was most definitely infatuated with him. I knew my chances at getting to know him were very slim in the short amount of time he would be around training the new staff, and I knew it wasn't an appropriate time to confess my desire to know him better. I remember talking to him once during the training period, and he squeezed my hand briefly as he spoke to me. In his eyes it was probably nothing more than a friendly gesture, but to me it was like everything momentarily faded away.

Darius had done many openings before I met him, and I knew I wasn't the first girl to fall for him, but somewhere inside of me I knew there was something more to it than just a trainer-trainee crush. I knew if I could just get his attention he would see there was something there too. It's ridiculous I know, but I would wish for my chance with him before going to sleep at night, for months. He lived in another state, I barely knew him, and yet I never felt such a strong desire to be with someone so much.

I went as far as to plan a camping vacation, by myself, in a state I'd never visited before, all for the chance to see him and go fishing with him. I found out it was a hobby of his during the opening, and I went as far as to buy books like Fishing for Dummies so that when we did go fishing I could pretend I knew a little something about something I didn't have a clue about. When our fishing date fell through and my trip didn't go according to plan, I almost gave up, but I never stopped thinking about him and hoping beyond hope that I might still have a chance. A few months later I sent a random email to him to see how his summer was going. I don't know if that's when the light bulb went on, but it seemed to set the wheels in motion.

We emailed, we talked on the phone, we set up another visit. The next time he squeezed my hand he kept holding on as we walked together in a summer rainstorm in Florida. I got the chance I had wanted so badly, and he finally saw there was something there too.

Three years ago we held each other's hands and promised to stick by each other till the end. It was nothing elaborate, and no one was there with us we knew besides our unborn babies. It was perfect for us. Maybe not what either of us had envisioned our wedding being, but it didn't matter. It was just the legal start of something that had already started years before.

We've had our fair share of ups and downs like most marriages, but our relationship just gets better with time. I'm so thankful for this day, and I look forward to this day in another year from now, and all the years after that.

Happy Anniversary Darius, husband, friend, greatest love of my life. I love you forever, I love you more.