I’m not usually one for the mushy online sentiments. But last weekend it hit me. I didn’t believe love exhausted when I was young. Not real, true, enduring love. I really thought it didn’t exist. And just in case you believe that too. Just in case you are afraid that it can’t be found because it doesn’t exist… I want you to know I was wrong. I want you to know I found it. It’s not perfect, it can be messy. Yes, of course we fight and there are moments when he makes me so mad. But… He is why I’m here today.

It is because of him I learned to believe in love.

It is because of him that I learned to believe in myself.

And it is because of him I found my faith.

He has always believed in me. It was him who let me sell our laptop and some furniture so I could start a business. It was him who told me that what I had to share was going to change lives and had to be put out there. It was him who stood behind me while all the light shined and has never once complained. And it is always him who scoops me up and holds me when it all gets to be to much. He makes me better in every sense of the word.

I am who I am because he loves me.

I am where I am because he believes in me.

My life could not be where it is without him. At 18 years old, on our very first date, I knew I wanted to be his wife. And I knew that even though it seemed crazy to everyone else, marrying him would be the best thing I ever did for myself. I was right. I can trace every great thing that has happened in my life to what happened to me because of becoming his wife.

Photography by the incredible Jerry Ghionis