18 years ago today . . .

. . . I asked a Marine to dance. I picked him because he was shy and didn't seem full of himself. He was tall, thin, and dark-haired. I liked his brown eyes and the fact that his front teeth were every so slightly too large (I figured a visible flaw might prevent him from having a tremendous ego). I was immediately smitten.

All these years later, we are still together. His hair is gray now. When I reminded him yesterday that today marks the 18th year, he said, "Okay, you've got two more then." He was kidding, of course (I think). We are fortunate in that we get along and seldom argue. Here is an example of a near-argument we had recently. We were on a road trip and he was driving. I had just been driving moments before, however, and my iPod was still plugged in to the car stereo. He has an iPod as well. I thought he would switch them, but he left mine in. We listened to a few songs and then he clicked "next" when Arcade Fire came on. "Keep the Car Running" is one of my all-time favorite songs and I never get tired of listening to it.

Me (flipping it back): "You did NOT just turn off Arcade Fire."
Him: "Claudia, all of your songs sound the same."
Me: "Really? All of your comic books look the same to me."
Him: "Okay then, all of your dog books look the same to me."
Me: "Well, fine, but don't ever turn off Arcade Fire. Seriously."

And that was it.

In a world with so much violence and strife, I'm glad that we are able to raise our daughter in a generally peaceful home. I think it's important to give kids the example of parents who love each other, like each other, and get along well. Of course, when we try to hold hands in public, she flings herself between us and demands that we hold her hands instead. When we hug, she pokes out her lower lip and exclaims, "You never hug me!" even though we hug her countless times each day.

I am not the type to say things like, "I married my best friend!" My husband is not my best friend. We have quite a few things in common (we both love music, sweets, and books and both hate Chinese food), but not enough to make us BFFs. I honestly don't think it's a requirement. And in order to be his best friend, I'm pretty sure I'd have to start reading comic books and watching military documentaries on the history channel. Clearly, neither will ever occur.

He is not the type to call me just to hear my voice. I get flowers once a year if I'm lucky. He tells me "you look nice today" on a roughly semi-annual basis (usually once over the summer and once around Christmas time).

However, when he brings home carry-out for dinner, he knows to make sure mine never has anything resembling an onion in it (without me even reminding him). He brings me dark chocolate (never milk chocolate) and a nice bottle of Riesling right when I need them most. He kisses me goodnight every night, even when I am already sleeping. He's an amazing dad and has never once balked at attending a tea party or tying the sash on a princess dress (and wears the occasional tiara himself). Although occasionally I do threaten to trade him in for a younger jarhead who might actually care about household repairs, he knows that he's my only. My mom told me to marry a handyman, but I married a finance major instead. Our home may be going to hell in a handbasket, but at least my 401k is in good shape.