"A blue-eyed boy meets a brown-eyed girl" (and made another blue-eyed boy)

Well, technically my sweet Sarry has hazel eyes, but since our first married dance was to "The Sweetest Thing", I am taking artistic license. I started this post with high hopes, but I am finding that it is extremely difficult to distill a 7 year relationship (3 1/2 in marriage) down to a few paragraphs. I guess the best thing I can do is to explain how she has changed my life.

She moved to Colorado in '99 and as her friend, I was not a good influence. During those years I drank too much and had no goals or aspirations above making it to the next weekend, shooting guns and working on my truck. If I ever wore a shirt, it was usually a wife-beater (the mention of which in this context seems inappropriate, but I have no other name for this article of clothing) and I felt no shame in lobbying to keep a sofa on our front porch. I think she was partially attracted to my bad-boy persona, while able to see the better man I could be. That summer holds a special place in my heart, not just for our budding relationship, but for the time with all my friends. After Sarah left, I was put in a position to analyze my life and its direction and it was not a Yellow Brick Road. At Lake Havasu, AZ I was confronted directly with the life I was leading and its affect on the soul of a person. As I looked at the debauchery of Havasu and juxtaposed that to Sarah, I all but cried as I realized that I was heading away from, not towards my heart's desires, being needed and respected, and my sweet Sarry.

That day, September 5th of 1999, I quit drinking, turned back towards the God I had been vigorously ignoring and resolved to return to college. Sarah was the catalyst that God used to convince me that his way was best for me. I can't think of a much better complement than to say that a girl not only makes a guy want to be a better man for her sake, but also convicts his heart to be a better human in the image of God. He (with her support) has led me to correct many of the above areas in my life (though I confess I still like weekends, guns, trucks and can think of few things more pleasant than a Colorado evening sitting on a front porch couch with no shirt on).

What else can I say? I've been so blessed with a girl that is enough like me to be amazingly compatible, yet unique enough to challenge me. She has simple tastes. She is pleasantly surprised by nice gestures, but is content enough not to demand them. She is the amazing mother of my boy and gives him more than I ever could. She married a guy who wasn't a hunter, but understood when I became one (plus she likes venison). She'll gleefully watch 24 or Gladiator with me but still reminds me that life is precious. So on Valentine's Day we don't need to go crazy because we so frequently enjoy lovely nights together that we don't yearn for an evening of unrealistic entertainment which we can't afford.

To Sarry: I love you and always will. Happy Valentine's Day and I'll be home around 5:00.