A Kissiversary in Gratitude

It's our "Kissiversary" or "Annikissary"! Eight years ago TODAY was when Nick and I first kissed. Before we even met, I used to listen to his violin in the classroom next to my theology class, "Reality of God". We met at a LGBT pride event off-campus, where I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he played for my team. Nick charmed me with poetry written on scraps of paper. We had a sweet and brief romance in my last semester of college, before I moved across the continent. I am so glad we maintained a friendship. . . and reconnected in such a way! He is an incredible partner and I am so grateful.

I've been intending to share this with you all. Especially in these trying months since our accident(s), he has demonstrated remarkable patience. . . and domestic skills! I learned that being less-able really limited so many of the things I could do, and Nick was a hero as he stepped in to help. He packed my lunches and made my breakfast nearly every day, with lovenotes:



And on the mornings he left earlier for work than I, Nick carried my backpack to the entryway. He set out my coat, hat, gloves, lunch, and schoolbag so that I didn't need to carry anything. Amazing!



Living abroad has certainly been a challenging and unifying experience for us as a couple. This past weekend we experienced something rather comical. It was an enjoyable evening of karaoke with my fellow musicians from the G8 music project. As a night closer, it so happened that our last song was "Creep" by Radiohead. He sang it well. The lyrics are rather bitter, and perhaps this is a good theme song for January-February. We're feeling better now, but the irony was laughable:

"But I'm a creep,
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here"


Three cheers for my hero! Buy that man a beer, next time you see him!