30 reasons to love you
Dear Hartmut.
When I look at the pictures from our first year together, I can't help to notice that we are getting older. And that is ok. It actually makes me happy and grateful. All the happy years together, all the adventures and scary big steps, all the fun and all the very normal days.
Today you are turning 30. 30!! It makes me feel old. But maybe that's what we are. Not old per se, but definitely past our young student years. We are real adults now, with a car, a house, a kid and another baby on the way. And I am happier than I ever imagined to to. Life with you is amazing and here are 30 reasons why:
- You make me feel loved. Not so much in the 'red roses, candles and chocolate' kind of way, but in the 'you make me laugh and allow me to cry, you make me more me' kind of way. And it turns out that that is much better.
- You inspire and challenge me to be the best Anneke I can possibly be.
- Your pride in your perfectly boiled egg. And your disappointment when your calculations about size vs boiling time did not give the desired result.
- You are an amazing father. And I am sure that you know that when you see how Sophie looks at you and says 'pappa' with the sweetest and proudest little voice.
- You are an amazing woodworker. I am so proud when I see all the furniture around the house that you designed and made with so much love and precision.
- You do everything you do with so much determination, skill and loyalty.
- Your naughty eyes and funny jokes never fail to make me laugh.
- You never lose your temper with me. Even though I can be painfully stubborn.
- You almost always do the dishes which, after I have cooked, means that you clean an entire kitchen that looks as if a bomb exploded. And you never complain!
- You love gardening a lot more than I do (I just love the flowers and the vegetables) and you make sure that our garden looks great.
- The way you take care of me when I need to be taken care of, like yesterday.
- Because, when something is important to me, you make it important to you.
- Your willingness to be real and vulnerable helps me to be real and vulnerable with you.
- Your love for our lawn. You take care of it as if a big soccer match will take place on it.
- You allow me to sleep a little longer every morning by taking Sophie when she wakes up and wants to play. You have no idea how much I value that!
- You always eat my food. Even the kitchen experiments that I am not too happy about.
- You keep me grounded and help me to translate my dreams into realistic plans.
- Your sense of fashion has drastically improved over the past few years.
- You make it very easy to be a wife.
- Your daily quiet time is inspiring and so so valuable
- Your diligence in doing our life admin. If I would have to do it, I would probably have a drawer with unopened envelopes, now we have perfectly organized files and paid bills.
- Your indecisiveness about little and big details. It may be annoying but shows very well how much you want to make everything as perfect and easy as possible for all of us.
- Your joy when you find out that you can still sleep 8 hours, when you set your alarm in the evening.
- Your fascination for anything 'engineering'.
- Your passion when you talk about injustice and poverty and how you make plans to let our little family play our part in making the world a better place.
- Your morals and integrity are praiseworthy.
- Because you always make Sophie and me your priority.
- because all the little things you do make a big difference in my life.
- Your hair
- you are my best friend, and I have no idea anymore how to do life without you.
Love you more than you will ever know! Happy birthday!
