Dear @MrsRaiKing,
Beautiful lady, I can hardly believe it, but today marks 19 years of marriage for us. We were kids when we met, and we were damn near kids when we got married, and I have to say, after all these years, that marrying you is the single the best thing I’ve ever done.
I can hardly believe it, but pretty much everything I loved about you when we first met as high school students in Kentucky 23+ years ago, remains so true today.
You were so damn cute, and stylish, and spunky, and quirky, and creative, and smart, and ambitious.
You loved God.
You loved family.
You had a huge heart for kids.
You loved knowledge & wisdom.
You loved books.
You loved Black people & Black culture.
And you believed in me.
I was a broken boy when you met me and had just overcome 2 of the most brutal years of my entire life, but you looked at me with optimistic eyes and helped give me the strength and confidence to walk into my purpose and destiny.
It’s a VERY tricky thing to be with somebody in their teens, 20s, 30s, and 40s. So much growth and exploration. So much learning. So many highs and lows. Lord knows I haven’t made any one of those decades easy. And honey, I’m just grateful and feel like the luckiest man alive that you’ve even stayed with me.
Listen, I know I’m faithful, loyal, loving, and hardworking but shit – we have security at our house and pretty much know our phones are tapped and our every move is monitored. You didn’t ask for any of that. God bless you for enduring it.
Now we’re both in the bed, you asleep, me unable to sleep, thinking of you, as we fight through Covid together.
This is that vow that we made to one another – in sickness and in health. I love looking after you when you aren’t well. And hope that my optimism lifts your spirits, honey.
I think I told you that I love you at least 25 times over the past day, but over this next year, as we consider the next phase of our life, I hope to show you my love even better than I can tell you.
Love you with my whole heart, baby.
Shaun