50 Things I Love About You

Big Star Lake Pontoon Cruise, Summer 2010

My husband turns 50 this Saturday. In honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I would share 50 of the reasons why I love him.

Kidding. I'm kidding!  Seriously, I wouldn't do that to you.

But I would like to go on record as saying there are probably MORE than 50 reasons why this guy is my best friend and still the love of my life. 

Even after knowing him for 31 years. He is that awesome.

It feels like only yesterday a young Mike and Terri wrote sweet love notes to each other about growing old together (okay so maybe I wrote a few more than he did) and promised to love each other through the good and bad times. At that time, neither of us were aware of how fast time would fly by, and how quickly we'd be turning a milestone number like 50.

I don't even want to tell you what I thought 50 would feel like, it sounded so ancient.

Who knew that in the blink of an eye we'd no longer be thinking about growing old together, we'd actually have to acknowledge that we've arrived there?

At o-l-d. Together. And way the heck too fast.

Wasn't it only yesterday we were in college?  

Mike's hair has been gray for quite a while, he even had a little white patch at age 19 on his temple when I first met him. It just kind of ...spread out over time, until he became almost all gray. (I'll share a little secret, I think he is actually even more handsome as a gray.)

I've got gray hair, too. My stylist felt bad about plucking a big gross curly one out today when she cut my hair. (Little does she know I tweeze my grays all the time, especially the ones at my temples.)  I have done that for a while now, but I don't tell her that because she thinks it makes more grow! I never believed her, but now that gray hairs are sprouting wildly out of weird places, almost daily, I may have changed my mind.

I can no longer keep up with the plucking. And I've sworn to never dye my hair. This could get ugly. Fast.

Life happens so fast. Life with children happens even faster. Wonder if life when your children grow up and move out will be the same speed, or if it might slow down some?

Several conversations I've had lately with friends have reminded me of the fact that although I am not prepared to be this old...I do not have a moment of hesitation about who I am traveling through this journey to o-l-d with. That part of my life is solid.

I do not worry about waking up one day and thinking that Mike and I have nothing in common. I worry more that we won't have time to do all the things we planned on doing before we get too old.

They say age is just a number. And this time it happens to be the big 5-0 for Mike.

Good thing we are both still young at heart. 

Happy Birthday, sweetheart. I love you!

P.S. I think I'll start that list of 50 things I love about him now...since I have no gift planned. Oops.