Mary's Very Special Valentine's Gift!

I don’t consider myself very romantic. I’m not one to surprise Mary with something unexpected until now…that part comes at the very end!  For several weeks, I’ve tried to come up with a gift to give her for Valentine’s Day 2014. This will be our 11^th Valentine’s Day together, and I wanted to do something special. Flowers, candy, stuffed bears holding little hearts, all possibilities but not what I was looking for. I wanted Mary to know how blessed I feel, every single day, that she is in my life.

So to the only woman who I will ever love…

        *************************************************************

My Darling Mary,

Our first contact was in March of 2001, when I started working for your brother as his Office Manager for his consulting firm in Leesburg, Virginia. He named the various family members who would be calling him at the office. When he came to you, he described you as “my gay sister, Mary”. I found it very interesting that he didn’t put any labels on your other two sisters. It didn’t faze me that you were gay, and it didn’t stop me from enjoying our phone conversations for the next two years. The conversations were harmless we discussed your partner of many years, my husband, and the unexpected obstacles that happened while on our life’s journey.

We didn’t meet until March 2003, when you flew down from Massachusetts to celebrate your brother’s 60^th birthday. I have this habit of greeting the people that I treasure with my arms straight out, and a huge grin on my face. That was your very first official encounter with me, do you remember that moment?

We had so much fun that week! I felt I had found my “best friend,” and it was such a wonderful feeling. I enjoyed your humor and your infectious laugh. I also liked it that you enjoyed my company. And, that you didn’t point out my faults as other’s who were in my life at the time were doing. You even invited me to come see Western Massachusetts, the Pioneer Valley area, and all the wonderful things that make it so special.

So you went back to Massachusetts, and your partner of nine years broke up with you because she had found the “love of her life.” You had no place to call home so you moved to Leesburg in the fall of 2003 to live and work for your brother. In October, you changed my entire life with five little words. They were “I’m aching to kiss you.” I’ve never regretted that kiss or any of the upheaval that was caused by the ending of my marriage.

In 2004, we moved to Northampton with our dog, Chloe, and began our lives together as a family. We purchased a home with good “bones” though it needed a lot of work to get to our standards. I wanted a dishwasher, you wanted central air conditioning, and, Chloe wanted a puppy. We all got what we wanted, plus much more.

So here we are - still together and it is now 2014! At the end of this year, we will legally be married in the state of Massachusetts for ten years! Wow!!!

  **So here comes the surprise part that I mentioned earlier**

Dearest Mary,

I’m planning a special service to bless our marriage of ten years at our church, All Saints’ Episcopal, on Sunday, December 28^th at 4:00 p.m. I am inviting friends and family to this very important event in our lives. After the service we are going to have one kick-ass party with catered food, meaning you won’t have to cook! What do you think? Will you join me on December 28th to celebrate our ten years together?

Happy 11th Valentine’s Day, Darling!