Six years ago…

I was living in a basement floor studio on the Upper East Side. E lived in the East Village in a well-lit third floor studio.
I was single and had several bad breakups in a row. So had E.
I had hair that was 6 inches longer. So did E.
I spent most of my time in nightclubs and at parties working for this place. E spent most of his time traveling, or planning to travel.
I didn’t cook dinner for myself more than once a month. E cooked for himself every night.
I had a dog. I did not have a child. E had neither.
I had both parents. So did E.

This month, we celebrated 6 year together. Six years of laughs, of travels, of eating, of love and tears and books and movies and life.And sandwiches.
We moved in together. We cooked. We had parties. We ate out and dined in. We started a blog about our relationship and I learned to cook. We got engaged. We got married. We had a beautiful, healthy daughter. We traveled around the world. We’ve lived a lot of life in 6 years.

To celebrate…. well.

Um….

I’d love to say we went to our favorite restaurant to eat the dishes we always order, feeding each other over glasses of chardonnay and kissing in between courses. I’d love to say that was followed by a night of dancing at our favorite club, followed by a marathon baby making session until the early morning, followed by heart shaped homemade whole wheat waffles.

But it’s nearly three weeks after our official anniversary date, and we’ve only managed to go out to lunch in the neighborhood with the baby. Which was just as loving and just as memorable, even if we had a third wheel with us.

I didn’t make a celebratory batch of heart-shaped anything for E. I did give him a kiss open mouthed on the lips.

But when I did kiss him, and every kiss thereafter, I kissed him as if it were our anniversary. I send a prayer of gratitude to this life we’ve created together. I enjoy every cup of coffee, every meal, every kernel of popcorn during another night of Netflix and Parenting as if it were a special occasion. I celebrate our lives every day. Because my god we’ve worked hard for it. And I’m grateful for each new day and adventure with E (and Q).

Here’s to what our lives together will hold for the next 6, 16 and  60 years. May it be full of more love, laughs, travels and food. And wine. And heart-shaped homemade waffles.

photo by K. Hadavi

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