Happy Anniversary!

Today is my wife's and my eighth wedding anniversary. We're not doing anything special today; we agreed last week to forgo the usual gifts and ceremony in order to return to the scene of the crime next week for spring break: Gulf Shores, Alabama.

My wife is the kindest, smartest, and most considerate and beautiful person I know. She is not only a wonderful wife, but a true friend to me and a fantastic mother to our daughter. She has made a life and a home for me that I never would have thought possible.

Before we married, I was hopeless. Literally. I had gone through a divorce, was living in a terrible apartment, and was driving a beat up old car. Okay, I'm still driving that same car, so I wasn't a total loser, but I didn't see a bright future ahead for myself. Now, over eight years later, I look forward to coming home to a nice house, sitting down to dinner with my family, and sharing my day with someone who understands the profession and can share similar experiences.

We make a great team in other ways, too. She cooks and I grill. Her cooking dominates the winter, and my grilling becomes the norm in the summer. When we got together, she took it upon herself to educate me on food and to develop my palate. I learned that cheese came in other varieties than what you buy in individually wrapped slices in the grocery store. I taught her her the wonders of the Mexican Fiesta Omelet. We even watch the Food Network together!

I love baseball, and she loves musicals; but we both support each other's interests and truly enjoy them. She knows what the infield fly rule is; do you? We both love movies and watch the Oscars with interest every year to see what we missed. We are both readers and enjoy some of the same books, and that's really a nice thing to have for a couple. It's like having a micro-book club.

We really get into "Lost." It's a high point of my week to watch that show together so we can talk about it during the commercial breaks to figure out what's going on.

What I enjoy the most about our marriage and my wife is that we are true partners. We make decisions together and talk everything out and if one of us gets sick, the other can take over everything. I can count on one hand the number of times we have raised our voices to one another.

Happy anniversary, Sweetie. I would be lost without you.