11 years ago, this morning, I woke up on the couch in my apartment. My small one-bedroom was filled with people sleeping in different places. It is funny, the feeling you have when you wake up in somewhere other than your bed. I sat up, wiped the sleep out of my eyes, and tried to remember why I was on the couch. Then it hit me, people were in my apartment to help celebrate my wedding later that day. It is hard to believe that 11 years have passed since that morning. Then again, it is hard to believe that it has only been 11 years.
I can still remember a sense of peace falling over me that day. In the weeks leading up to the big celebration, I worried about how I would feel on THE DAY. Friends joked with me
about having an exit prepped and ready. Colleagues told me to expect nerves to grow and take over. Family members told me it was okay to question and worry about what I was promising to do. None of those things happened. I knew that morning that this was the right thing and that no matter the future, I had found the right person with whom to spend the rest of my life.
So today is number 11. The symbol of the 11th anniversary is steel. This represents strength and durability. I guess they figured if you make it past 10, you are solid. I feel that this is a great representation of our marriage. – Steel the material that can take a lot of hits and still be there carrying on. Steel – an almost unbreakable thing.
In those 11 years, we have grown closer. Each and every day I get to learn more and more about the person with whom I stood next to and vowed to love forever. I believe that is one 
of the things that has kept us together and growing. That and always being willing to talk – even the talks that you do want to have. It is only being willing to talk about issues when they are still small that we have kept things from growing. We talk, talk often and about everything.
More importantly, we listen. We try to hear not just the words, but what is behind the words. The old saying about having two ears and one mouth really comes in handy for conversations. It is not about preparing a reply or coming up with a solution, it is about just letting the words flow into your brain and processing what is being said.
I would love to say that we learned all of this on our own. I want to brag that we are brilliant and have solved the mystery of marriage, but that is not the case. We work every day at making sure we stay solid to each other and grow in love. We work and we watch…
I say we watch because we are very fortunate in the fact that we have so many couples from who we learn. One advantage of being married later in life is that we have been able to watch our family and friends work through their marriages. The number of family members and friends who have passed the 10 year mark, 20 year mark, 50 year mark and more is large. We have each watched you, listened to you, learned from you. So many great examples to follow and live up to. Thank you all of you, the list is too long to place here – you know who you are.
These 11 years have been amazing, fast, and only the start of many more.
Finally –
To My Wife,
11 years ago, I watched this beautiful woman walk down an aisle on the arm of her Dad. I 
stood in front of our friends whose eyes were all turned and watching this wonderful vision float towards me and the altar of God. I so wanted to drop to my knees at that very moment and thank God for bringing us together. I wanted to stop the music. I wanted to stop what was happening. I wanted to freeze time and be able to walk up to you and whisper how beautiful you looked. I wanted to thank you for being willing to take a chance on me. I wanted to promise you that I would always be there for you. Time wouldn’t stop, time wouldn’t let me do that. Time did allow me to keep that memory of your face and the happiness that filled it forever in my memory.
Time still has never stopped nor slowed down. It has been 11 years of pure joy for me. No matter the ups and downs, it is all joy because you are standing there next to me the same way you did 11 years ago.
I cannot promise that our life will always be smooth. I know that life resembles a roller coaster and there will be ups, downs, twists, turns, and even loops. Then again, that is what makes life exciting. I can promise that for as long as God allows me to walk this earth, it will be by your side. We will ride the roller coaster together until the end.
I cannot say you completed me since we were both whole individuals before meeting and never needed another to be complete. I can say you have changed me. You have made me strive to be better each day. You complement me in that you enhance who I am as a person. No one else could ever do that.
So even though we are not in front of family and friends, I promise once again to be your best friend, your partner, and your husband. I promise to take care of you, to cherish you, to honor you each and every day, hour, minute, second. I will make mistakes. I will forget things. I will screw up, but I will never forget who you are and what you mean to me.
My love – here is to another 11, 22, 33 years together.
Thank you once again for taking a chance on me.
Love
Me.