One Year Anniversary

DISCLAIMER: This entry contains content that may be considered too sentimental for all tastes. Hopeless romantics only need read.

Today is our first anniversary. It's surreal to me that it has been a year since Michael and I said our vows. In some ways the year seems to have flown by, in others I feel as if we've been married longer than just 365 days. I hear people comment all the time that they "love their spouse more now than they did when they got married," or that they "didn't know what real love was when I said 'I do.'" I don't believe that is true for me. I knew I loved Michael the day we were married, and I know I love him now, a year later. I don't believe that I love him more or less than that golden-tinged, joyous day. Instead I believe that the bond that holds our love together has been strengthened. I am more aware of his strengths, his character traits, his qualities, his personality, his passions, and his beliefs. I am more aware of the person that I love, the person that he is. Knowing these things strengthens the bond of our love. If anything, I feel that my love for him has been solidified by time, experience, trial, sacrifice, and devotion. This is the first of many anniversaries, the first year of discovering the bottomless well of the man that I love. Let the years come, be they good or bad, richer or poorer, full of sickness or health. The bond of our love is strong enough to last.