Valentine’s love letter

This year, we decided to write love letters to each other instead of spend money on cards. We also "made" each other our gifts. It is a Vday that goes with the economic times. Since Lawrence posted his letter as a blog - his first entry for our family blog, I decided to post my letter here as well. I thought it was neat that we both mentioned so many of the same things. Not really a coincidence. Happy Vday everyone!

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Dear Lawrence,

I love you.

It sounds too simple. It’s hard to think of endearing words that we haven’t already said to each other, words that won’t sound over used and cliché. But beyond all that, I love and notice the things that you do, and since those are the moments that make up the days of our lives, I want to talk about those. I love that you scrape my windows on a cold morning before I am awake, I love your encouragement when you see that I am weak, I love your childish humor, I love the gorgeous smile you have when Lily tells you a secret and her hot breath tickles your ear, I love it whenever you smile that big, I love how ticklish you are, I love that you are Jewish and that our children are blessed with that heritage as well, I love the first kiss after a long day of work, I love the first kiss in the morning when I am still asleep, I love how quiet and respectful you are of us when you leave at the crack of dawn, I love how much you love college football, I love that you honestly don’t notice when my roots are grown out 2 inches+, I love how much you want to beat the Gunderson’s at Tetris and Scramble, I love the way you drive, I love the relationship you’ve built with my family and friends, I love that you do the dishes and take out the garbage, I love that you believe in me so much that you don’t understand my insecurities, I love that you can fall asleep on a dime (though I’m wondering when you will teach me that), and I love finding my ring in the proposal box every so often when I wake up. I don’t tell you often enough that I notice so many little things.

Lately we’ve had concerns about money, child care, job loss, time, cars, and juggling it all. When we look at the details and trials of the day, and we are tired or overwhelmed, it is easy to feel that we aren’t getting anywhere, like we are running in circles. But when we step back we see a happy marriage, a true love, two beautiful children who are happy, smart, creative, and well behaved. We see a beautiful home, jobs, and debt paid off, we see compromises and dedication to plans. We are happy and we owe this life to our love and commitment to each other. We work hard, and the results are worth it.

When I see you with our daughters I feel a sense of what I really lost without the love of a daddy. Our girls are so blessed to have you as the man of their lives. As they grow up you will be not only their dad, but their coach, their role model, their teacher, their friend, and their disciplinarian. I love that Lily knows how to use a drill and that she is learning to cook. I love that Addie knows when there is a touchdown in football. I know for the rest of their lives they will have more memories of cool things they got to do with their dad than they can count. I love that you want to get better, and I love that you don’t care what others think; you only care about what works for you and me and the girls. I love that because of that, you are also not quick to judge other parents, because they too, only need to please their own family. I love Cirque du Soliel practice, and I love that you have the strength to balance Lily on your palms, while Addie crawling on your chest, and yet gentle enough to clip their finger and toes. Becoming parents for the first time was so much harder than what we thought it would be, but becoming second time parents for the second time was so much easier than we thought it would be. We loved it more than we thought would be possible. I love that we could learn from our mistakes and insecurities, and grow from them. I love that we both want a bigger family.

You are the love of my life. I adore you. I respect you. You are the perfect man for me. Though the reasons are many, and I could go on and on for pages, it is simple. I just love you. We are Jenny & Lawrence. I love us.

Thank you for making me a wife and a mother, I can’t imagine a life I’d love more than this one, or sharing it with anyone who compliment me more.

Your amorous wife,

Jenny