It’s been 10 years.
10 years since Mark asked me to be his girlfriend.
10 years since I said yes.
He was, and still is, my heart's best decision ever made.
I’ve known my husband for a total of 13 years. When we met, we were freshmen in college. We were in the same friend group, and yet rarely around one another. We were like two stars, orbiting around a core group of people. Once in a while, our paths crossed, at the occasional party or late-night meal.
When my computer wouldn’t turn on sophomore year, he came to my dorm and tried to fix it (he was a computer science major, and is now a full-stack developer). Unfortunately, he couldn’t help me (I needed a new charger), and that was one of the last conversations we had until senior year…
Once again, I was having some computer troubles. My internet wasn’t working, so I texted him and asked if he would come over and assess the situation. Turns out, I needed a router.
This, he said, he could help me with.
He said he had an extra in his room (it was his - it wasn’t an extra) and that I could have it. So, he ran next door (yes, we were neighbors), got his router, came back over, and set it up for me. (We now refer to the device as our “love router” - you know, like Love Fern Kate Hudson buys Matthew McConaughey in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.)
That was early September 2013. We’ve been inseparable since.
Then - 2013
Now - 2023
Falling for Mark was exciting. If we were a romance novel, we’d be a slow burn. We took our time getting to know one another. We didn’t have our first kiss until a month or so after we started talking (though I know our friends suspected otherwise).
From the night he fixed my internet, we were texting each other constantly and started doing homework together every few nights. We would work on our separate assignments - him on my bed, me at my desk - and only when we were done (we were very serious students), we’d talk, and talk, for hours.
I remember wanting to know everything about him. No detail was too small. He was the most interesting person I’d ever met. He still is. Quiet to the outside world, but for whatever reason he let me inside his world and I loved having access to this brilliant, kind, adventure-hungry man’s mind and heart. I know almost everything about him now, but it still thrills me to learn something new.
No, first we became friends, then best friends with not-so-secret crushes on each other. We snuck glances at one another in group settings. We met up in between classes. We helped each other study. We watched movies in his dorm room (he downloaded Netflix so he could ask me to come over and do something other than homework). When we caught a cold at the same time, we went to Shoprite together for medicine. He showed up at the library with a to-go cup of tea and honey for my throat (one of my all-time favorite memories).
I thought about him constantly, and when he wasn’t around, I missed him in a way I’d never missed anyone before. Then, on October 23rd, he asked me to be his girlfriend, officially.
Us - 2015
Us - 2017
Over the last decade, Mark and I graduated together and got married. We traveled to a handful of states up and down the East Coast, plus Hawaii, and visited Europe, twice. We’ve lived in two apartments, parented the sweetest kitty, and achieved some major career milestones. We’ve gone on countless date nights, observed 10 seasons worth of football Sundays, and screamed our lungs out at many a concert.
We’ve shared a lot of high highs and some low lows. We lost people we cared about and held each other’s hands through the pain. We quarantined together during Covid and took care of each other through many an illness (including Covid).
But most important of all, over the last 10 years, Mark and I have shared a lot of love. A lot of smiles and a lot of belly laughs. I love him more today than I did yesterday, and I will love him even more tomorrow than I do as I type this newsletter.
He is my other half, my best friend, my person. My soulmate.
10 years went by in a blink.
I can’t wait to see where the next 10 take us.
(Happy anniversary of becoming an us, Mark! Thank you for being you and for giving me as many hugs as I ask for. My love for you is endless.)
I’m in tears (happy tears) reading this! You two are certainly soulmates ❤️❤️ Love you!
So sweet! Happy anniversary! <3