Happy, Happy Birthday

This is the sixth birthday of yours that we have celebrated together. I was pretty nervous for that first one six years ago. We had known each other for just a few short months, and I thought maybe it was too early for presents, so I came over and made you dinner instead. And I really wanted it to be perfect. But it wasn't. To be honest, it was a bit of a disaster. I remember this very clearly. The oven wasn't working quite right, and the apple pie fell apart at the first cut. The pasta wasn't completely cooked, and the hot July day melted the ice cream I agonized over because I didn't yet know what flavor you liked, and I forgot to ask. But despite that first year's disaster, the birthday dinner became a bit of a tradition. And they have greatly improved over the years.

So today, I will come home from work, and for the sixth time, I will hit the kitchen to make your favorites. And I will wait for you to come home so we can eat dinner together and so I can wish you a happy birthday in person.

But before that time comes, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday here, in this forum of mine. So that everyone will know that today is your day. Your special day. And you will be in their thoughts all day, as you are in mine.

So, happy birthday to you:

To the man who let me cover all of his living room bookshelves with romance novels without saying a word.
To the man who proposed to me on a website that I still look at from time to time and smile.
To the man made me laugh so hard I cried on our first date, and continues to do so nearly every day.
To the man who is generous with his time, and who is always willing to be helpful.
To the man who shares my love of TV, and agreed when I said we needed two DVR boxes to accommodate our respective show line-up.
To the man who loves adventure and who once busted up an hours long bumper-to-bumper traffic jam on the Pennsylvania turnpike in the pouring rain while I sat in the car and watched, awed and proud.
To the man who loves to learn and who has an endless supply of random historical facts that never fail to amaze me.
To the man who watched eight seasons of 24 and seven seasons of The West Wing with me...all in one glorious summer (for anyone interested in the math, that is approximately 340 hours, or approximately 14 days, of television. We are hard core)
To the man who is the hardest worker I have ever known.
To the man who is my recent past, and my forever future.

Happy birthday. As always, you amaze me.