He is a stunning expanse. A vastness so high and so wide I can’t ever tell where exactly he ends. Billowing with energy, I have always noticed him. His ideas leading our way, interesting figures slightly changing course; radiant with light. Never the same sunset twice.

His iridescence morphs into other shades as well. Light and luminous sometimes becomes gray–thundercloud blue–as he moves over life, picking up the molecules of reality from below. It is a lot to ask of a person: lead the way, attack the enemies, hold our hearts–and repeat. For it is on his shoulders that we all ride. On some days I see the heaviness of life weighing him down, wearing at a man’s soul. Uneasy, this life we chosen.

But then the clouds crack open; releasing their tears. The refreshing rain giving way to bluebird clarity once again. A new light glows in him once again, warming my soul too.

From down here, I look up at him and all the things he is. How he stretches himself to the ends of the earth for me. Oh how I would do anything for him, while he is out there doing everything for us.

But nurturing requires staying in the nest. I keep the life of our family beating along, providing the nourishment, the comfort, and the soft place to rest and grow. Life in the nest is often small. Confining. Seemingly unimportant. The ground I walk is hard, all sunken down here in the slog of the daily. It’s easy to forget myself; the person I am deep down underneath the stretch marks and snot-stained t-shirts. Because I see him on his beautiful horizon. I see the grandeur and space. His exciting potential paving the way for this family, a lost bit of me longing for potential of my own. Rarely do I emerge from life long enough to see who I now am. But he still sees me. And stretching out his hand, he lifts me up to his view, where I see myself.

His perspective praises me to a place so precious and vital. A part perhaps too big at first, but one that I have grown in to. In his eyes I am the nourisher, the harmony, the flow of life for this family. He lifts us, leading into the expanse. And I sustain, cultivating the growth. Hand in hand moving forward, tending these hearts entrusted to our care.

I am his heartbeat. And he is my sky. Together we flourish, each role so critical to the other.

Happy 8 years, my love.