(Brilliant idea shamelessly stolen from Joshilyn Jackson)
1. He makes me laugh.
2. He makes our kids laugh.
3. He makes my friends and family laugh.
4. When he laughs, everybody laughs.
5. His eyes are this beautiful gold-brown color.
6. They light up when he laughs or smiles.
7. He knows some really obscure trivia (sports, music and otherwise).
8. He also knows everything you ever wanted to know about music in the 70s, 80s and beyond.
9. Sometimes that kind of knowledge can be frightening.
10. He is a good dancer.
11. He likes to stop whatever he is doing and take me on a little foxtrot around the room. Usually when I’m doing dishes or cooking.
12. He always opens doors for me.
13. He makes the perfect Lemon Drop, with fresh lemons from the tree, whenever I want one.
14. We think alike politically.
15. We think alike financially.
16. We think alike parentally.
17. We are in accord spiritually.
18. He likes to go out to concerts and hear live music. He hates it when the music sucks.
19. He is willing to try new things.
20. He looks very handsome in green.
21. He is half Irish.
22. He is half Spanish.
23. He understands when I speak Spanish to him. He just plain likes it when I speak French to him.
24. He hates to be cold.
25. He loves beaches, tropics, sand, surf, and boat drinks.
26. He is a shameless, absolutely shameless Parrothead.
27. He doesn’t suffer fools, gladly or otherwise.
28. He loves to barbecue slabs of dead animal flesh. He is especially good at marinades.
29. He always praises my cooking.
30. He says he will eat quiche. Then he will kick your ass.
31. He likes the kind of chocolates that I don’t. And he doesn’t like the kinds of chocolate that I simply must have.
32. He is taller than I am.
33. He stalked me for months before I would concede a real date.
34. He swam, biked and ran a triathlon this summer and did so with a torn rotator cuff and a hernia.
35. His softball team won the championship in summer and came in second in fall league. He has been on this team for 25 years.
36. He lived in a rural area in his childhood and understands what I mean about the seasons and about farm chores and responsibility.
37. We both consider the 707 area code “home,” where we grew up.
38. He loves the Sunday paper. Especially with a Starbucks at hand.
39. He has great taste in gifts, restaurants, music and clothes.
40. He has a giant neon fish hanging on his wall. And a leopard couch. Funky masks on the wall from the South Pacific. And he knows how kitsch it all is.
41. He thinks I’m beautiful.
42. He is trustworthy, honest and committed.
43. He does everything with passion.
44. He is a man of integrity.
45. He loves me. He says so all the time.
46. He is 46 today. Huzzah!