"And I owe it all to you..."

"I've fallen in love many times...always with you."

February 14, 2012

One Year Ago

I anxiously tried to pull up the lyrics to "I've Had the Time of My Life" on my phone's web browser.  It finally loads and we both lean across the table, our foreheads touching to scan over the lyrics.  "Which one's the man's part?"  "Do you know the chorus?" "I can probably fake it through some of these verses."

I love Dirty Dancing, but in this moment I wished I'd loved it enough to commit every line of this song to memory, so that I could teach you, so that we could fulfill the wish of the woman sitting next to us at dinner. This woman, her husband, her husband's brother, and his wife, have been with each since they were 14 and 16 years old. They were celebrating a lifetime of love and laughter with champagne and strawberries and expensive steaks. And they graciously invited us to join in, with complimentary champagne and toasts to what they hoped would also be a lifetime of love and laughter for us as well.  Then the woman begged us to sing the anthem from Dirty Dancing, in front of about 60 other people, drinking and singing along with the most unexpected enthusiasm, in one of the most unexpected places--a historic restaurant, inn, and piano bar in Old Town.  

We chickened out at the last minute, but joined in with the others during Footloose.  We raised our hands and clapped, smiling and every so often, shooting a look at each other silently agreeing that "This is awesome." 

We had such a good time that by the time we left, my birthday was nearly over. It was basically the 15th of February.  To our surprise, the garage where we parked the car had closed for the night.  There was no panicking, no complaining, no worrying. We simply started walking, hand in hand, up the street, lined with lit trees to the metro station to catch a cab home.  It was cold out, but I'd never felt so warm with your arm around me.  It was late, but I'd never felt so refreshed and awake.  It was our 7th Valentine's Day together, but it still felt like the first.  The difference? I loved you way more on the 7th Valentine's Day than I did on the first. And you can bet I love you more today than I did last Feb. 14.

***

Ben, you've heard from a lot of people that it must be hard dating someone with a birthday on Valentine's Day.  Well, you make it look easy. Thank you for honoring me in a way that is most uniquely you on every birthday and Valentine's Day for the past eight years.  And in case you didn't know it, I am still  psychotically obsessed with and in love with you.  It's kind of ridiculous. Happy Valentine's Day.

Ben, Feb. 13, 2013, with a semi heart-shaped egg in a basket.  I did a do-over with heart shaped pancakes.