June 14, 2007

Flag Day! That's right, it's Flag Day!!! How many people out there knew that? You know why I know that? 1) I am a social studies teacher, I'm supposed to know useless information like that; 2) it is the day I proposed to Michelle, in 1997 - 10 years ago. After months of harassing her, I finally proposed, and boy was she surprised! After she finished cursing me out (yeah, that's how surprised she was) I had to ask her for an answer. (Rumor has it that she said "yes"). Now I'd like to say the the last 9 years (remember, we didn't actually get married until July of the following year), have been totally smooth and without incident, but you would see right through that. C'mon, whose marriage is totally bump-free? We have both grown (and I don't mean my pant size - and head size for that matter, I can't figure out how that happened), we have changed. Although we have lived our lives together we still have lives apart. There is still "Matt" and there is still "Michelle" and then there is "Us." Sometimes they get confused, or sometimes we forget one or the other, but the important thing is to try and find them when we realize that something is lost, or just misplaced. And sometimes, in the search for ourselves, we forget the "Us", heck, sometimes I've forgotten the "Michelle." Are we all guilty of that? I dunno, but the important thing is to wake up and realize that sometimes we are forgetting (how do you actually remember something you forgot?). Michelle, I love you. We have been apart for a short while now, but to some extent, I feel we have been apart for longer. I think I have spent a little too much time on "Matt" and maybe you a little too much time on "Michelle." It is time we remember "Us." It is time that we allow "Us" to grow again, so that "Matt" and "Michelle" can grow closer together and "Us" can grow stronger.