Valentine's day

We've been married almost 13 years. We're not the limber, young newlyweds - ready to drop everything to run away on a weekend together. We've aged, we've changed and we've learned so much about ourselves and each other. We've had 2 kids together, changed endless diapers, laughed together at baby toes and toots, bought a house, gotten our siblings successfully married (to each other!) and held down good jobs. We've seen euphoric highs, and we've shared some crushing lows which only made us grow more fiercely protective of each other.
 I used to be impulsive, willful and headstrong. Thought I knew better. Thought I was this larger than life person with intense emotions and eyes full of stars. You know what my husband changed about that? Nothing! He still believes all those wonderful things about me and still looks at me like I'm the most exquisite woman he's ever laid eyes on. He celebrates my passions and holds me safe when life deals me a few bad cards. He believes I can do anything I set my mind to and helps me be the wife and mother I am.
He may not be your Ryan Gosling or your Shah Rukh Khan with snazzy prose ready on his lips. He does not know how to serenade me or make these Oscar worthy fantasy gestures. But he knows all my eccentricities and my vices, my fears and my secrets. He knows how to raise my kids, love them so hard and be the best damn father they could have ever imagined. And he somehow knows how to be everything I could ever look for in a partner.
So dear husband of mine, on this Valentine's day, here's my promise to you:

1. I promise to always laugh at your hokey jokes, especially the more technical ones. 
2. I promise to honor your drive and your passion for your chosen field and support you just like you do for me.
3. I promise to be excited when you talk about topics that may not necessarily pique my interest. I understand how important knowledge is to you and I promise to never make you feel that what you say isn't worthy of a captive audience.
4. I promise to let you take me for granted once in a while. On difficult days, you need a person on your side who won't expect you to be perfect and I will be that person for you!
5. I promise to apologize often and quickly, especially if I've been insufferable.
6. I promise to be angry at your actions, but never at you. Never.
7. I promise to raise our children in your likeness with a strong work ethic and a sense of ownership to everything they do. 
8. I promise to cheer for our children when they succeed and cheer extra loudly when they fail. 
9. I promise to take deep breaths and remember that we're raising children and not prize winning cattle. Its ok that the toys aren't cleaned up every once in a while.
10. I promise to love you and say it often. Even on hard days. Especially on hard days.
11. I promise to put life on pause some days and just sit back and watch the ocean with you.
12. I promise to grow old with you and get matching canes and walkers. Yes, you can have the BMW insignia on yours. 
13. I promise to never ever give up on our shared dreams, even though they may seem impossible today.
14. I promise to love you forever. But I also promise to like you!

They say the second ten years of your marriage are even more exciting than the first. I believe that now.
Happy Valentine's day love!