I can hardly believe that this is the tenth birthday I get to celebrate with Ryan. When we met, he was 21, almost 22. Now he is a full-fledged adult with a shaved head and a baby and a half-sleeve tattoo. And on this tenth birthday together, I still think he's awesome. Even more so, now.
Ryan is easily one of the most intelligent people I know. He loves learning and is always teaching himself how to do something new. We can talk endlessly about current events or religion or film or music or the show we went to. He's also really really funny. He has been known to take me to see Broadway shows and ballets in San Francisco but can sing along to Justin Timberlake with the best of them. He cooks way more than I do and I never changed a middle-of-the-night diaper until he went backpacking overnight when Brynlee was five months old.
The thing that I was drawn to initially about him was that I could be 100% fully unabashedly myself with him. That freedom has only grown over the years. One of the things I love most about my relationship with Ryan is how much space and room we've cultivated for each other. Space to explore and ask and be exactly who we are on any given day. There is always room for exactly who I am and exactly who I want to be. I hope I never take that for granted.
I love you, Ryan. Thank you for already being such an amazing da-da to our little girl. And thank you for loving me with the most freeing love, a love that is somehow an anchor and a sail. Thank you for encouraging the dreams I have that seem scary and impossible. Thank you for this love! Happy 31!
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