15 Years...can that be RIGHT?!

Last night I jokingly suggested to Babe that 14 years was probably enough time for us to be together, maybe we should both try something different. I mean, 14 years is a long time!

"Fifteen years," he corrected. Suddenly I was confused.
"What do you mean fifteen years? We're just jumping to fifteen now?" I asked.
"We're closer to fifteen years together than fourteen, it'll be fifteen years in October," he informed, likely thinking I was just plain clueless.

I did the math and, what the heck, on October 6, 2011, we'll have been together for fifteen years. Although he is still a little ahead on the 15 talk, it's still looming! If I thought the kids were flying through the years, Babe and I had bypassed them at the speed of light!

Babe and I started dating when he was 16 years old and I'd just turned 18 - long story that includes him conveniently adding a YEAR to his age when we first met - and it still amazes me that there are things I am learning about him. His basic personality is always intact: mellow, gentle, focused, funny, intelligent, and a lover of the finer things in life but willing to work his tail off to acquire what it is he wants in life. I know all of that, that's always been there. But over our many years together (8 years married) I have learned that he is a good father - lets his daughter get away with more than I like and encourages his son's passion for video games a little more than I like - and the kind of man who is willing to work at our marriage, even when things are difficult.

I've learned that if I want to see him smile, hear him laugh, all I have to do is get him out of his element (work, home) and into a fun situation where his competitive side can emerge. That is when he is the Babe I know and love - the one I fell so hard for nearly 15 years ago. The guy is a lot of fun and I think it's easy to forget this when we're so fully engaged in every day life and parenthood.

Fifteen years is a long time and we've been through so much together in that time: ups, downs, and all the really good stuff in between. For many couples, fifteen years is just a drop in the bucket but for me it is signifies the kind of commitment I always wanted: one that is happy and endures.

I jokingly suggested we try something new and Babe's response was, "You won't find better than me!" And I had to smile because he is absolutely right. He is just the man for me - he always has been, and he is even more so after 15 years.