When I say I love you I mean it. I’m talking about how I feel when you open up the front door after a long day at work.

The door swings open, you roll your bike into the kitchen, and a smile forms on your face. It quickly makes it way to your kind eyes and runs throughout your open arms.

You wrap me up like you haven’t seen me in days and lift me off of my feet. “Hi, I’ve missed you.”

When I say, “I love you”, I’m thinking about the way that you tell me that I’m beautiful.

You cup my face in your hands, look into my eyes, and say it so slowly. “You’re…so…beautiful.” I’m not wearing make-up and my shirt is wrinkled, but you don’t even notice.

When I say, “I love you”, I’m reminiscing on all of my memories of us together. I think about our first date. First kiss. First dance.

I think about how our cruise ship almost left us in Ireland and how I cried tears of joy when we made it back to our cabin. How we walked from our apartment to my mom and dad’s house because we were bored during quarantine and wanted to see if we could do it.

How we fostered tiny, flea-infested kittens in our small apartment and nursed them back to health.

When I say, “I love you,” I’m imagining how wonderful our future together is going to be. Your kind heart radiates love and can be felt during the darkest times. Your unending support will never run dry.

When I say, “I love you”, I mean it.

Happy anniversary, Hunter. I love you.

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