Seventeen years. Yep, seventeen. It’s not a big anniversary. You know, 10, 15, 20…those are the big ones. Those are the ones that seem to call for trips and jewelry and pomp and circumstance. Seventeen is just seventeen.

Except for us; seventeen feels pretty important. Seventeen was the age I was when B and I started dating. Seventeen years was the year we survived the first year of owning our own business together. Seventeen was the year when we found a new, great school for our girls. The year we lost so much sleep. The year we worried about everything from produce suppliers to billing systems, building websites to building menus, dance classes to art classes to swim team, homework to taxes.

This was not an easy year and many times I felt frustrated and lost but I feel that B is the one that carries so much of the weight of our family. I can see it in his eyes; the exhaustion, the worry, the drive to succeed, the need to take care of us. So many nights I know he wants to shut down, have a glass of wine, watch a game on tv and relax, but he doesn’t.

He reviews Annabelle’s math homework and praises her, listens to her stories about swim team and learning hand stands in the pool. He picks up a book and Gwyneth practices her reading with him. He never gets frustrated, he gently corrects her and encourages her. He tucks them in to bed and makes up stories that include their favorite stuffed animals and they always go to bed full of laughter. He is a good, good dad.

He’s a good husband. He is encouraging and kind. He’s a fixer. I once complained that with work and homework and running the girls around I couldn’t keep up with laundry. I hate doing it and it just piles up. I just complained about it in passing, as I do, but the next day he texted me from work asking if he could find someone to come in once a week and take care of the laundry for me. On another occasion, I mentioned that keeping up with the books for the business was taking up much more of my time than I had anticipated. The next day I received emails from 3 different bookkeeping services in the area that he had found. He doesn’t just listen, he acts. He is constantly trying to make our lives better.

When I was 16, I met a guy while working at the movie theater. He was funny and a bit silly and really kind. When I was 17, I started dating him. When I was 18, we went off to college together. When I was 21, I married him. Now 17 years later he’s still funny, still kind, and even more silly. Now that’s reason to celebrate.

They wrote a note to our elf and Gwyneth reminded him to stay downstairs because she thinks he’s creepy and is actually quite afraid of him coming in to her room while she sleeps. (She’s right, he is creepy)