Today is your day: an opportunity for me to celebrate you with more vigor than usual. Today is my annual opening to straightforwardly express how fortunate I am to join your life’s journey. The joy you’ve given me is greater than anything I could bestow. And yet, I’ve made an attempt to communicate my long-awaited response to “how much?” I love you.
You see, there are ways lovers have been conditioned to demonstrate how and to what extent they love their partners. We’re urged to buy things that signify our affection, with hopes of wholly expressing all that it means to have found someone that reciprocates our love without conditions. We purchase and gift these things reflexively, thrusting our fingers into the deepest recesses of our proverbial pockets with aims of purchasing something that embodies what we feel. As an active participant in this process year after year, I’ve come to realize that the “show” is less about expressing love and more about revealing fiscal progress I’ve achieved since the last round of gift-giving. While this may not be true for others, it pains me to admit that it’s absolutely been the case for me.
What I’ve learned is that there is no “thing”—or number of things—that I might buy that would capture the way that I feel about you. In truth, you, and your love, are the gift. I’m made whole by this reality. I’ve found my smile as a result. The joy I feel is nearly impossible to translate. But I stepped back and considered the egoism of a man attempting to trivialize the worth of gifts—when the giving of things needn’t be stopped but reevaluated. This much I, now, understand to be the path forward. In addition to doing a better job of demonstrating how much I love you each day—offering up heartfelt gifts at unexpected times, leaving handwritten letters under your pillow, and telling you plainly, without solicitation, that I love you deeply, madly, and unconditionally—I’m mindful of the need for openness as I work to express the expanse and gratitude I have for the love you’ve gifted me.
So, the process begins with this: a love letter with a digital footprint. A tribute to all things you on your birthday and the promises I’ll work relentlessly to fulfill over the next 364 days. I love you today, tomorrow, and forever. You’ll find evidence thereof throughout today’s activities, as I’ve committed to embarking on a celebration of you with the most public display of affection I could muster.
I love you, Lindsie.
Welcome to your birthday celebration,
King