It’s the man’s birthday today.

Since I wrote an “open letter” to the boy and the girl earlier, I figured it was the husband’s turn –  also I may have run out of gift ideas.

Here is an excerpt from the letter.  When I stopped to think about it, we’ve been on a lot of adventures together. But, what remains my best “memory” is the daily, the ordinary, the every-day-ness of life which we do together. 

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We’ve buttered scones and dug into stewed pears and fat sausages at a charming bed and breakfast off the coast of Oregon. The yellow flowers in the window boxes nodded a cheery hello to the crisp, salty morning at the beach.

We’ve wandered through the narrow alleyways of Venice, your shoulders brushing the walls, the quaintness of the streets startling and delighting me. The water taxi ride, peaceful except for the steady hum of the engine, the gentle waves hugging the stairs of elegant buildings that melted into the Grand Canal. The golden glow of the evening drenched the buildings like an impressionist painting.

We’ve stumbled on a little cottage in the woods in Prague. Steps led us down to a cellar, a tavern where monks brewed beer hundreds of years ago. We order a pint of caramel and hops, with a hint of coffee. You enjoy the dark notes of your drink. I enjoy the dancing shadows of that cave-like inn, slurping up the mystery and romance of it.

We’ve raced down the Autobahn at astoundingly heart racing speeds. We’ve walked through the chambers of horror of the concentration camps near Munich. Peered into death’s eyes. Who can remain unchanged when they see those barracks where men lay stacked like decaying livestock. It shook us as we walked in silence and the gravel crunched beneath our boots that winter morning.

We’ve lazed around on the beaches of Bali, looking up from our books only to watch the blue ocean dance and spray and waft toward us. We’ve tasted rather dubious coffee from the plantations there (or maybe that was just me).

We’ve waved goodbye to the Statue of Liberty and taken the obligatory selfie with it behind us. We stood shoulder to shoulder with tourists, so far from the White House that it looked more like a $5 curio than the real thing.

We’ve dangled our legs tens of feet above the frisky Pacific as we parasailed in Maui. We were both so nervous, we barely even looked at each other.

We’ve tasted the sweetest of coconut water as we meandered through the sultry streets of Phuket.

We’ve dug into crepes in Strasbourg as we listened to a passionate young man play his cello outside the cathedral. We’ve marvelled at the whimsical decorations of the Christmas markets in Vienna, the air heavy with the spices of steaming mulled wine.

We’ve dipped chunks of sourdough in lusciously creamy fondue with the snowy Alps as our audience.

We’ve swirled in pink tea cups at Disney and climbed the orange-red ranges of Sedona. We’ve walked on a glacier in Banff and seen shades of blue that should only be in heaven.

We’ve stayed at a stone inn in Tuscany and tucked into salami and cheese and bread and watched the empty street below our vintage pink bedroom come alive in the evening with music and gossip and young lovers and smells of roast lamb.

We’ve sampled the dumplings on the streets of Singapore and watched amazingly well-trained birds at the park.

We’ve pretended to play the slot machines at Vegas and caught of glimpse of God’s glory in the vastness of the Grand Canyon.

We’ve shared crisp apple strudel a la ‘Sound of Music’ in Salzburg and walked down the road where Maria sang to the Von Trapp kids.

We’ve slunk by on the quiet backwaters of Sri Lanka’s mangroves and held wiggling baby turtles in our hands.

We’ve tasted life together for the last thirteen years. It’s been marvellous. All these glorious adventures with you. More than I ever asked for. More than I ever imagined.

I’ve seen more beauty than my heart could ever hold.

But more than the gorgeous views on those trips, more than the adventures, more than the photo ops and more than even the beauty of untamed nature,  the daily journey continues to amaze me.

The every day blessings. The quiet moments and the things that we don’t bother to document. Those are the moments that make you and me.Those are the moments that make us.