these ten years

This is a tribute to the man i call home. Ten years ago this day, we travelled to the water for our first date. We drove up PCH toward El Matador beach with his surfboard bungeed down in the back of his blue truck. I had all of my things packed for a move sitting in a corner of a warehouse at work and had no beach towel, so we stopped at a roadside market where I bought a hot pink towel that has followed us to each house we've lived in until I retired it this last move.We twice passed the sign on Malibu Highway that reads "27 Miles of Scenic Beauty". Whenever we refer to this anniversary we call it some variation of the 27 Miles of Scenic Beauty Date. A date so important in our history. B set off on foot for the waves a little while after we staked our claim in the sand. As he walked away from me, I felt giddy and giggly to myself about possibly kissing him at the end of the day. As he reached the shoreline, he promptly stepped into a hole and fell straight down-I think he cut himself on a rock. He was so embarrassed and I was laughing like crazy. I am that loathed person who can't hold in laughter at a topple. After a long day, he drove me to my girlfriend's house where I was sleeping temporarily. I had to lean in and give him a peck on the cheek. I had no idea how this was going to work if he was going to be so fracken* shy. It did work. It is working. Ten years later we are still laughing when the other falls-then we gently and carefully pick the other up and hold each other so close, so tight, with such safety and respect, and most of all, trust. We know that we are so lucky to have each other-to have outshined our own expectations-not of each other, but of ourselves. And now we have this beautiful baby boy to show for our hard work: our labor of true love and our gift to each other. We are home.