This isn't a long blog. It really doesn't have a back story or precursor or even a funny anecdote about life. This blog is about my love Billie; and she looks like this:

I took that picture a little over seven years ago when we first started dating. We went out for a walk at the waterfront park in Salem. She was really embarrassed about me stopping her to take a photo, but that's why I love it so much. Because she has a beautiful smile and her dimple really shows when she is having fun and feeling a little silly. Then there is this other picture I took a year and a half ago at a Starbucks with my cell phone:

I think we title it "Comprehensive Coffee" or something like that. It's a great photo too. She's so photogenic, although to hear her tell it, every photo that's taken of her has something wrong in it. But that's just not true.

This year we will celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary. I know to some that have been married 25+ years that really isn't too long. But in this day anything over five is becoming abnormal. Now check these out:

I love it when she tries on crazy hats (that's Colby Hammer by the way). I especially like the cow hat in the middle, it looks like it is a lot of fun wearing that hat, but I have a really big head and they never fit.

Billie is everything right about me. She is my work ethic, my drive for betterment, my follow through, my intelligence, my funny AND all my other emotions. She challenges me to be patient, to remember others before myself, to feel all of my feelings and look at things in a different way.

Like any relationship we have had points in our life that was hard. The best analogy to those times is when you walk outside barefoot and you step on that little rock that you didn't see. It hurts really bad for a couple minutes, but you keep moving on and the pain goes away. That's what our life is like together.

I know for certain that I wouldn't be as good of a man if Billie weren't with me. I love her, I need her, I depend on her; her support keeps me going, her respect gives me confidence, her creativity inspires me. I get really depressed when we don't get to spend a lot of time together and it's taken me a long time to identify that feeling.

I love Billie with everything I know that I have to love with. But the best thing is that in the next quarter century, I'm sure I will learn that I have a whole lot more love to give her.