June 30, 2021

My dearest,

Thank you for always bringing a smile to my face. Thank you for making my heart grow many times bigger when I’m able to bring a smile to your face in turn.

Thank you for teaching me about things I needed to know and about things I didn’t need to know but were interesting all the same.

Thank you for going on dates with me, even when we are miles apart, whether we’re enjoying burgers for lunch or putting on Korean face masks before bed. Thank you for making this fun.

Thank you for making all the smallest things matter.

Thank you for insisting we don’t limit our travel to Bangkok and Tokyo, as much as I’d like to, and broadening our horizons.

Thank you for travelling with me to all these distant lands: to Buenos Aires and Bergen, to the red sand sea of Namib and the white salt pools of Maras, and to the end of the world (where any further south and we’d have been in Antarctica!).

Thank you for bearing with me when I got my first DSLR camera over a decade ago, even when you were embarrassed when I took pictures of ramen as other customers waited behind us, breathing down our necks, in that tiny, cramped noodle shop in Ikebukuro.

Thank you for taking over the camera and proving to be a far better photographer than I ever could be. Thank you for sharing your talents with me, and the world.

Thank you for never being afraid to say how it is. Thank you for being kind when you say it and teaching me I don’t have to hurt the feelings of others to get my message across.

Thank you for always thinking of our future and all the sacrifices you made for us.

Thank you for always accepting my apologies. Thank you for forgiving me my mistakes and understanding I’m foolish but I will keep trying.

Thank you for saying “I do.”

Thank you for making me the happiest person in the world.

Thank you for listening, even when I’m rambling or singing off-key (which is always).

Thank you for being you.

Yours, ever and always.