And Then There Was Love...

Thursday, March 6, 2008


Today is our 6th anniversary. It may not seem like long and to me it doesn't. Six years already, the time has flown which shows that this marriage is not a trial for me.

Over eight years ago, my downstairs neighbor came up to fix my fridge. I was leaving one Saturday and he was standing outside and said,"Don't you ever smile?" Me being well... me replied," I do when my fridge hasn't been broken for three weeks." He promised that when I got home he would come up and do what the landlord wouldn't, fix it. That man who lived downstairs kept his promise, came up and fixed my fridge and eventually... my heart.

When people would ask about us we would always say, "Oh, we're just friends." I called Bob when I had a bad day and some how that day just wasn't so bad anymore. I called when I was excited about a good day. The best part of my week was Friday night when I would sit on the porch swing with Bob and we'd talk about nothing and everything... Bob was my best friend. When there was an emergency he was there, when it was time to celebrate he was there. He was always there, reliable and my friend. We dated other people, we even would call each other and poke fun at the people we dated if I recall correctly. We never found the right fit in the other people we dated, there was always something just not quite right. (Who else would leave me voice mails on my work phone singing me songs by The Jackson Five just to make me smile.) It took us years to realize that we were both looking for something we already had; each other. That person you can count on to pick you up when you fall, bring you medicine when you're sick, call just to say, "Are you ok? I haven't heard from you." That person who always makes you feel safe, loved and important. That person who will buy the stuff for a Thanksgiving dinner at the very last moment while pouring his heart out to you and telling you it's you he loves and that he's your family and you will be having Thanksgiving dinner with him, right in the middle of P&C Grocery with everyone staring at him. That's the man I was made for, the man who wasn't afraid to tell the world or at least all of Camillus, N.Y. how very much he was in love with me and that I was his angel; I was ALWAYS his angel. I had known I was in love with him for quite some time, I didn't think he felt the same; it seems we were telling each other everything but the most important thing.

One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I married Bob Wandtke on March 6, 2002... I should have done it much, much sooner. I love you, Bob. Thank you for still picking me up when I fall, making me feel safe and content, making me laugh and loving me unconditionally. Most of all, thank you for still being my very best friend. I could never ask for a better husband for me than you; you are my perfect fit, my other half, the part of me that is strong even when I am weak, who is sensible when I am silly, the person who makes me love and feel loved... My world will always be a good place as long as you are a part of it. Our love made this world better when it overflowed and made two beautiful boys a part of it. We get to be part of that thing called unconditional love because I love you, even when you crab at me, when I snap at you, even when we're poor, when you're sick, when we're tired, there is always love in my heart for you. You are that person I long to kiss, even the very first thing in the morning (our love laughs in the face of morning breath). I promise to love you even when you doubt it, even if you are ever to doubt us I will love you. I appreciate you, even though I fail to show it a lot of the time, from the way you have always kissed my forehead in the pure love, no expectation kind of way (except for that time when you showed me your CD collection and stole a kiss) to the way you work so hard and so much to give us a good life. I especially appreciate the fact that you made me your proud wife in spite of the fact that I've never worked for Hooters Restaurant. LOL.

This year there is no 'Anniversary vacation' or big presents. This year there is something better, and absolutely priceless... more moments together, more moments of love, every year we add more moments to the ones we already have and in the end we will put all these moments in our memories together and call it a lifetime. We have more moments with each other, that is the best gift we could ask for. There are people that would give anything and everything for just one more moment with that other person; the other half of themselves. These are our moments and I will do my best to show my love to you as if it were our very last moment.

Happy Anniversary Bob!

Giving you a lifetime of love,

Your Angel