Fourteen

That is the number of years, to the day, that I have been married to Sheryl. I do not have the luxury of a plethora of discretionary time here to compose poetry or develop a lengthy dissertation on the depths of my love, and I don’t think ordering a singing telegram would quite convey my sentiments. I am confident and bold, even if my expression is not couched in iambic pentameter, formed in a sonnet, or rhymed in the Shakespearian or Spencerian tradition, to say “I love you, Sheryl.” Though it is hard to be away from you on this day (somehow a little more difficult than all the other days we are apart), the essence of our relationship and what it represents is what lends meaning to this separation. I am not thankful for the separation, but I am thankful that I can be a part of providing the potential opportunity for the development of a wholly different life for a set of people who never had the opportunity to make the kinds of choices within the framework of the freedoms we’ve enjoyed. Thank you for the many sacrifices you have made that have enabled my service—I do not even pretend to know the depths of those sacrifices, or the many areas of your life and being in which they have been made. Thank you for working hard, and inspiring me to work hard, at understanding yourself, knowing me, and choosing to love me despite what you found. I thank God for you, and His grace that gives us strength to stay committed to Him and to each other.

Semper Fi, Jon G.