I'm thinking a lot about Patriot today - where he's been and where he is now.
I wonder if he sees how much progress he has made. I wonder if he knows how he looks through my eyes and what a difference he has made in my life. I wonder if he knows how much I appreciate all the changes he's made to better our marriage, and I wonder if he sees what a strong man he has become.
I was just doing some research and read his first post and the subsequent replies. Nothing shows you how far you've come than seeing where you used to be.
This is a man who takes responsibility - for himself and his family.
This is a man who makes his marriage his #1 priority in life. There have been times when his actions reflected that, even when it went against what I wanted. I appreciate that now. I appreciate that he would not participate in any actions I took that could have been destructive towards our marriage.
This is a man who faces fears and overcomes obstacles, regardless of how enormous they seem at the time, or how unachievable his goals seem to him or to me.
This is a man who takes initiative. He is the founder of Date Night and MB Study Night, and he never forgets. He seeks any and all information he can get his hands on to better himself and/or our marriage. Then, he learns how to apply it.
Everything he has done and continues to do and all he has achieved means more to me than I can actually express. He said in the beginning that he would do anything, and he has - from obvious things, like quitting his job or learning and trying to speak my "Love Language" to less obvious things like leaving school early last week because I was crying about my daughter turning 18 (and getting her nose pierced) to leaving work this morning to hold my hand at the doctor's office because I was afraid.
Changing lifetime habits and patterns of thinking is challenging, to say the least. I have more admiration for this man than any one person I've known in my lifetime.
I know it takes a lot - an awful lot - to deal with me on a regular basis. I can't even fathom the amount of resolve he has. It actually blows my mind sometimes. I have no idea what I ever did to deserve it, but I am so grateful that he wakes up every day and continues to choose me.