Anniversary

"I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner, and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness or in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day we took this vow. The vow is seemingly simple and no-brainer, but it actually takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice to fulfill the words of this vow. As usual, we had a nice dinner and this year, it was at Valentino's. It is a very cosy, family-run Italian restaurant that serves very authentic Italian fare. It looks and feels as if we were dining at someone else's house. The food was good from appetiser to dessert. Just looking at our smiling faces tells it all.

And look what I spotted at the window ledge; miniature leaning towers of pisa and doggies. I had fun arranging them while waiting for the food to arrive. They are so cute I had to take a picture of it!

Halfway through the dinner, deardear told me he had to go to the car to get his handphone as he was waiting for a call. And look what he came back with... a surprise present. Luckily, I have got a surprise present prepared for him too. Hehe.

3 years is not a long time, but it is not that short a time either. I used to wonder (and sometimes still do) how couples can live with each other's idiosyncracies for decades and came to realise what true love means when I saw this quote somewhere:

"Love is not breathelessness, it is not excitement, it is not the desire to mate every second of the day.... For that is just being in love.... Love itself is what is leftover, when being in love has burned away..."

Love is profound and for as long as we shall live, I believe, we are constantly still learning to love. Happy Anniversary!