Thank you for falling in love with me, and not giving up on that love no matter what happened.

Thank you for our two loving, kind, and smart children.

Thank you for finding Karma, our Dog-of-Dogs, and for faithfully, uncomplainingly, walking him every evening, no matter how late it is or how tired you are.

Thank you for working so tirelessly and cheerfully, while never expecting me to do the same.

Thank you for making the bed every day and doing all the laundry, all the recycling, all the dishes, all the time. No partner could work harder to convince me I don’t have to be a “wife.”

Thank you for calling me every day from work no matter how busy you are.

Thank you for bravely and sensitively working with the most lost souls imaginable, and never bringing them home, never letting them bring you down.

Thank you for facilitating every one of my passions, no matter how incidental or casual: Sandplay? You have a sand table made for me. Photography? Here’s a state-of-the art Nikon. Office? You’ll spare no expense in creating it. You even remembered a piece of art I liked a decade previous, and found it and framed it for me during our estrangement.

Thank you for making my life easier in a thousand little ways: putting fresh, clean, folded towels next to the tub, offering to bring home take-out any (and sometimes every) night of the week, running countless errands, dropping me off in front of the Y so I don’t get wet crossing the parking lot, and always sharing your bowl of ice cream even though I could easily get my own.

Thank you for knowing where I’ve left all the many things I’ve misplaced.

Thank you for being the one to lock the doors, turn out the lights, and start the dishwasher before coming to bed.

Thank you for coming to bed.

Thank you for getting mad without getting mean.

Thank you for being able to face tensions when we need to, and to let them go when we need that also.

Thank you for supporting me in what I want and need to do, even when you don’t want me to do it.

Thank you for listening endlessly to my endless ruminations, preoccupations, and postulations.

Thank you for singing about me in the shower.

Thank you for making me feel like I’m beautiful, no matter what I look like.

Thank you for continuing to grow with me across the 31 years of knowing each other, 31 years of helping each other become our best selves.