Pride and Love

Sometimes, when you've been with a person for a long time, you let some of the things that made you fall in love with them head to the back of your mind. Fortunately, there are those moments when life pushes them right back up to the front.

I've known Mark for 13 years now and we've dated for more than half of that time. I first realized that I was in love when I found a kitten outside our office (we met at work) that had been killed. He came outside with me and buried it under a tree. It was sweet and gentle and I was hooked. That was just the first of many things that I saw that reinforced my feelings. He's smart, funny and tenacious. I love that!

This weekend, he ran a half marathon. It may not seem like much, but he just started running less than a year ago. He decided that he wanted to run for his health and has set steadily increasing goals for himself and he's done a great job. He ran the Army Ten-Miler in October and now 13.1 in this weekend's Mardi Gras Marathon. Amazing!

I cheered him on from the street (I'm lucky enough to live 2 blocks from the route). A couple of our friends and their little boy even came out to root for him. I was so proud that I wanted to cry. It was perfect.

I still get butterflies after all of these years despite some roller coaster ups and downs. In the end, it's pretty darn good. I guess we must be doing something right. Days like today make that pretty easy to see.