Between Coffee & Curfew

I’ve written about my children, my grandma, and some of the people who have shaped my life in ways they’ll probably never fully understand. I’ve shared stories about motherhood, memories that still make me smile, and moments that have left a permanent place in my heart.

But there’s someone I haven’t written about yet. Someone who has been beside me for eighteen years and has played a part in more of my story than almost anyone else.

My husband.

For as long as I can remember, he’s told me that I’m the best part of his day. And even after all these years, there’s something about hearing those words that makes me feel loved.

Now, don’t let that sweetness fool you. This is also a man who takes great pleasure in pushing every button I have just to see what kind of reaction he can get. Sometimes I swear he enjoys irritating me more than anything else. And the worst part? He knows exactly what he’s doing.

But that’s us. A little teasing, a little sarcasm, and occasionally wondering how we’ve managed to put up with each other for eighteen years.

Underneath all of that is a man who loves his family fiercely and shows it through the things he does every day.

My husband works hard, often pushing through physical pain that would make most people want to spend the rest of the day on the couch. Yet he comes home and still looks for ways to make things easier for me. Whether it’s helping around the house or taking something off my plate, he rarely thinks twice about it.

He’s also always been one of my biggest supporters. Although, I will say, anytime I start a conversation with “So, I was thinking…” or “I have an idea.” his first response is usually, “Oh God.”

Not in an irritated, here we go again kind of way. More like, here we go again, what has this woman just signed me up for?

And honestly, I can’t even blame him. At this point, I could probably walk through the front door carrying a baby goat, and he’d barely be surprised. He’d just look at me, shake his head, and ask what we’re supposed to do with it.

But that’s one of the things I love about him. No matter what crazy idea I come up with, he’s always in my corner. When I decided to start my own cleaning business, he supported me just like he has with so many other things. Even when I’m second-guessing myself, he encourages me to give things a try.

He might wonder what I’ve gotten us into this time, but he never makes me feel like my dreams aren’t worth pursuing.

Of course, eighteen years together doesn’t mean we always get things right. We butt heads, we’re both stubborn, and sometimes our communication leaves a lot to be desired. There are days when we’re both trying to explain ourselves and somehow manage to hear completely different things.

But even on those days, we still show up for each other.

And I think that’s what I’ve come to appreciate most about sharing a life with someone. It’s not about having a perfect marriage or always knowing the right thing to say. It’s about having someone who continues to choose to be part of your everyday life, through the ordinary moments as much as the memorable ones.

We’ve raised children, celebrated milestones, faced heartbreak and made more memories than I could ever fit into one post. We’ve grown older, changed in ways neither of us expected, and learned that marriage is something you continue figuring out as you go.

When I started Between Coffee & Curfew, I wanted to share the people and experiences that make my life what it is. And I couldn’t keep writing those chapters without giving some space to the man who has shared so many of them with me.

To My Husband

There are so many things I wish I said more often.

Sometimes I think we get so comfortable in our everyday lives that we forget the person beside us still needs to hear how much they mean to us. We assume they know because we’ve been together for so long, because we’ve built a family, because we’ve shared years of memories.

But I never want you to have to assume how I feel about you.

I love you. Deeply. Even on the days when we’re not seeing eye to eye, even when I’m quiet, and even when I struggle to find the right words to express what I’m feeling.

I know I haven’t always been the best at showing you that love. There are times when I’ve been guarded, when I’ve let little things get in the way, or when I’ve expected you to understand what I need without really explaining it.

And I know we both still have room to grow.

But if there’s one thing I hope you understand, it’s that I don’t take our life together for granted.

When I think about the years ahead, I don’t just think about the big things we might accomplish or the places we might go. I think about growing older with you. About watching our children build lives of their own and figuring out what comes next for us. About still finding reasons to laugh together when our hair is gray and you’re probably still doing things just to get on my nerves.

I hope we never stop learning how to love each other better. I hope we keep finding reasons to choose each other, even when life gets busy or difficult. And I hope we never become so comfortable that we forget to appreciate what we have.

You have been part of so many of the moments that made me who I am. And while I don’t know what every chapter ahead will hold, I know that I want you in them.

I’m proud to be your wife. I’m happy that we’ve built this life together, and I love you more than I probably manage to put into words.

And after eighteen years, there’s still no one I’d rather grow old with.

I hope that someday, when our children are grown and life has slowed down a little, we’ll look back at all these years and smile at the life we created. I hope we’ll still find reasons to laugh over the smallest things, still reach for each other at the end of a long day, and still find comfort in simply being together.

More than anything, I hope you never forget how much you mean to me. Even on the days when I don’t say it enough or show it the way I should, my love for you is there. In the little moments, in the memories we’ve made, and in every hope I have for the years still ahead of us.

Because when I picture growing old, it’s not a place or a particular dream I see.

It’s you beside me.

And I hope that’s where you’ll always be.

Between Coffee & Curfew🍵❤️