The moment I first saw you in that crowded hallway, you were lost in conversation.  My first thought?  “Wow!”

The moment you first spoke to me I could tell you were nervous.  You make silly jokes when you are nervous.  That is ok, because I was nervous too.  I remember thinking that I couldn’t believe how blue your eyes were, I felt like I could get lost in them.

The moment you first sat next to me at church my hands started to sweat, my heart felt like it was going to beat out of chest.  I remember the smell of your cologne, I had never noticed it before.  I am pretty sure I got nothing out of the message that night.  As soon as they started worship, I changed seats.  Not because I didn’t want to be near you, but perhaps I wanted to be too near.

The moment I first heard your voice on the phone, my heart skipped a beat and I instantly began to sweat.  My nerves quickly subsided because it took you all of ten seconds to make my laugh.  You wanted to know everything about me.  You asked how I had become saved.  I had never shared that story before.  You asked me what my favorite passage of scripture was.  You didn’t laugh at me when I mispronounced “Psalms”.  I know that took a lot of restraint.  We talked all night long.  We only got off when you had to go to work at 9 am.

The moment we went on our first date, you asked two other friends along.  I think you were nervous.  You took me to the mall, which is silly now because we never bought anything there, and we don’t shop there now either.

The moment I realized you really liked me was when another boy asked me on a date right in front of you.  I declined making up some silly excuse, but the truth is, my heart already belonged to you.  Later on in the evening I saw you talking with the boy.  You were politely asking him to “back off”.  Maybe your heart belonged to me as well.

The moment you asked me to be your girlfriend we had been dating around three months.  We wanted to take things slow because we were so young, just 17 and 18 years old, but I think we both knew we were only kidding ourselves, neither of us were interested in dating anyone else.

The moment you hugged me for the first time, really hugged me, I found my home.

The moment we first kissed I learned what the term “weak in the knees” really means.

The moment I saw you cry for the first time you told me you loved me.  You had always told me that you would never tell a girl that unless you were sure you were going to marry her.  This was the first time I realized, “This man is going to marry me!”

The moment you popped the question I felt like every bad thing that had ever happened to me was completely wiped away.  We we getting ready to begin a whole new life.

The moment you and I went to pick out our apartment that we would live in after getting married we thought it was huge.  It was the hugest 550 square feet anyone had ever made.  We loved it.  I cleaned it from top to bottom, and cooked to stock the fridge for you.

The moment we packed your last box for the apartment we walked around your childhood home and we cried.  You knew you were saying goodbye to part of your old life, and that it would never be the exact same again.

The moment you sang “Forever Yours” to me on the night before our wedding, I knew I was getting ready to marry the sweetest, most wonderful man, who also happens to be one of the worst singers I had ever heard.  I figured if that was your one flaw, I could live with that.

The moment I saw you standing at the end of the aisle, I could hardly believe you were actually there.  I guess I thought you may come to your senses and not show up, but there you were.

The moment we kissed our first married kiss, I kissed too long.  I just didn’t want to let you go.

The moment we danced our first married dance I remember thinking, “Did this all really just happen?  Am I really looking into the eyes of the man I will spend the rest of my life with?  Someone pinch me!”

The moment we drove away from the reception to our honeymoon is hands down the memory I relive the most.  I can still remember the way the sun was setting.  The windows were rolled all the way down, and our music was turned all the way up.  I remember holding hands and looking at each other and saying, “We did it!  We did it!”

The moment we returned from our honeymoon we were locked out of our apartment.  It was 10pm, and I had the flu.  This is when reality hit us right in the face.
The moment you got home from work the next day, I ran out of the apartment and jumped into your arms as soon as you stepped out of the car, I realized that reality wasn’t so bad.  I loved helping you take of your shoes and jacket, preparing your meals, even putting toothpaste on your toothbrush.  I was so pleased to be your helpmeet!

The moment we got the positive pregnancy test for AA we started laughing and crying simultaneously.  I am pretty sure the people in the doctors office thought we were nutso!

The moment you started kissing my belly, I knew it was all over.  You talked to, sang to, kissed and hugged my big fat belly for nine months.

The moment you looked into the eyes of your baby girl for the first time you were smitten.  I remember looking at the way you looked at her and thinking, “Now that is what a father is suppose to look like!”

The moment that I was hit with post partum depression, and my life became a dense, terrifying fog, you were there, right by my side, the entire time.  You never complained, or got frustrated, you just held me and told me it would be all right.  And you know what?  I believed you.  When I was in your arms I knew I was safe.  Remember?  I was home.

The moment I saw AA on your lap, and you playing with her, I knew that you weren’t just an incredible husband and father, you were a great man.

The moment we got the positive pregnancy test for Landon, we both screamed.  You lifted me way up, and said, “Are you sure?  Are you really, really sure!?”  You laughed, I cried.

The moment you looked into your son’s eyes, I knew you had found your partner in crime, your buddy.

The moment you walked by my side through the PPD for the second time, I knew there was really nothing I could do that would make you leave.  You were the one person who held me together.  You were the only one who could make me see a light at the end of the tunnel.  The light was you.

The moment I watched you in the front yard, playing with both of our children in the leaves, I knew that God had given me a most precious gift, something I could never ever begin to earn, deserve, or replicate.

The moment I listen as you teach our children their nightly Bible study, I hear the passion in your voice.  I know you are thinking and feeling the same way I do.  I see you teach with love, and understanding.  It makes me proud to have your name.

These are the moments that make us my love.  These are the moments we will tell our children right before they are to be married.  These are the moments I will whisper in your ear when we are old and gray.  These moments are our lives my darling.

May there be many more moments, my love.  Many, many more.