Why do I write open letters? I could just as easily have written this letter on paper and handed it to my wife, or typed up an email, or perhaps tweeted her a long Twitter thread…But I decided to write an open letter because 1) I want to set a positive example for other men and women out there who might read this letter and be reminded that it’s okay to express love openly, especially for your close family, 2) I want my son to someday be able to read how I felt about his mother “back in the day,” particularly if, God forbid, I’m no longer around at the time he’s reading this, and 3) I hope that this will last in a way that other formats may not (after all, our blogs are not only archived by the host site, but they’re also shared via Facebook and Twitter).

To my Love, my Wife, and the Mother of our Child,

I love you.

Those three words are too simple to truly convey what you mean to me. And yet, once you understand the true meaning of love, as demonstrated to us by our Heavenly Father, perhaps those three words are more than enough.

Every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed, I thank God for bringing you into my life. Every time I see you with our son, I whisper a silent prayer, thanking God for giving our son such a caring, patient, and nurturing mother. Every time I hold you and breathe in the scent of you, I’m taken to a peaceful and contented place. More than the walls and floors and ceilings, more than the trinkets and personal trappings of the place, you are my HOME.

Over the past couple of years I’ve heard you comment offhandedly about maybe a few extra pounds on the scale, a few more grey hairs, or a few more wrinkles. You may think that these superficial things make you look older or, worse, less attractive. But to me, they are trophies of time spent here on this Earth together. They mark the passage of time that you and I have enjoyed in each other’s company. They mark another day that my love for you was able to grow in new and different ways as we grow in life and marriage. None of these things lessens your beauty; in fact, when you smile and I see the way your eyes shine brightly, I’m taken back to that very first night we met and the first time you smiled at me. In all the ways that are most important, you will always be that woman, the one who surpassed all my hopes and expectations over a cup of coffee in a bookstore.

You amaze me. You have so much capacity to love and care for your family. You have a strength belied by your stature. You are so passionate about the things that are important to you. I admire all that you are, all that you have been, all that you’ve accomplished, and I look forward to being by your side during all your future successes. And I know that life won’t always be mountaintops…sometimes we’ll have valleys to trudge through. I still look forward to those days too, knowing that there is no other person I’d rather be with, rain or shine.

Thank you for loving me. Thank you for loving our son. But most of all, thank you for being you!

Love Always,

Dion