Dylan Stewart
Guest Contributor
EDITOR’S NOTE: This was Day 30 of 31 in MDI alumnus Dylan Stewart’s 31-day #justwrite campaign on Facebook. Part of a 31-piece wedding anniversary gift, this would be the culmination of a month-long dedication to his wife Julie, whom he married March 21, 2022. This second-to-last post is a simple love letter from a husband to a wife.
Julie,
You are the most amazing woman I have ever known.
The reality that I get to live with you and see you every day never gets old. I feel the same when I wake up beside you, and we go through our morning rituals, as I do the moment you get home from work and walk in the door.
There is just so much to love. From the fun and unique sense of humor, you carry so effortlessly to the craftiness that you can whip out at a moment’s notice.
You inspire me. You inspire me to be a better man, a better husband, and a better human being. But it goes deeper than that. You inspire me to think bigger, to care deeper, and to strive for more.
I love how you look at me; it is the same way you looked at me the first time we met. It’s a mixture of “you’re crazy” and “you’re amazing.”
I always enjoy our conversations and the ease and grace with which we connect. We can do anything together, and we will make it fun.
I trust you. That’s a big thing because I don’t trust women easily. I’ve been burned badly too many times to count, but I trust you. I know you will tell me the truth, and we will figure it out together. I trust you won’t sabotage me or say one thing to my face and something else behind my back.
I really love the way you are around my family. Family is such an essential thing to me. In my two most serious relationships before you, my partner didn’t like or didn’t want to be around my family.
To try and make those women happy, I cut myself off from my family. It hurt both times, and my family was ready to forgive me and welcome me back both times. And I had promised myself there would never be a third time. So when we started connecting, in the back of my head, I feared what could happen.
What if you didn’t like my family? What if you didn’t want to be around them? I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my family again, but I was really excited about what we had. Then you made the decision easy. You just fit in. You enjoyed my family, got along with them, and made it easy.
Just like you always do.
So you fit in with my family, and I fit in with yours, and no one has to sacrifice anything. Imagine that.
On our anniversary vacation, you asked me about my muse, and you seemed a little disappointed. I asked you why, and sheepishly you admitted that you always hoped that you were my muse. I want you to know that you are so much more than my muse. You are my inspiration.
The life I want to build is all for you. I want to give you everything you ever wished for and everything you deserve. I want to show you how lucky I am to be with you every day and tell you how much I love you and how unbelievable you are every hour.
One of these days, you might be sick of me doting on you and writing poems for you and adoring you as I do, but not today. So until you are sick of it, I will keep telling you over and over again…
You inspire me!
I love you!
I have never been happier in my entire life!
This is as passionate, connected, and alive as I have felt in a very long time.
You show me what is possible.
And all you have to do is keep showing up and being yourself … that wonderful, wacky, silly, adorable self … and I will keep loving you.
Happy Anniversary my Love!
D.