Checking in on previous promises

Elysha and I are celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary today.

As I have often said, it feels like we were married yesterday.

It probably feels a little more like 17 years to Elysha.

Since it’s our anniversary, I thought it would be a good time to return to our wedding vows. We each wrote vows to the other and revealed them for the first time at our wedding ceremony as we recited them aloud.

Elysha cried quite a bit while reciting hers.

In reading through them 17 years later, I think we both did a fine job upholding our promises to each other.

I don’t eat sushi very often, but I have tried it from time to time. And Elysha has done an outstanding job of picking her things up off the floor, though they sometimes migrate to other surfaces where they still don’t belong.

Overall, I think we’ve crushed it so far.

ELYSHA’S VOWS TO ME

Matt,
You are my dream come true.
There is nothing that could make me happier than marrying you,
my best friend and soul mate.
From this day forward, I promise to share with you the joys of life,
because with you, they will be that much sweeter.
I promise to help shoulder our challenges
because, through them, we will emerge stronger.
I promise to always encourage your creativity
because that is what makes you unique and wonderful.
I promise to nurture your dreams
because, through them, your soul shines.
I promise to try to be on time and pick my things up off the floor
because I know those things drive you crazy.
Most of all, I promise to laugh with you, support you,
and to be your partner in all things.
I love you up to the sky and back.

MY VOWS TO ELYSHA

I used to believe that life would be perfect when all my dreams came true, but then you came along
and I realized that I didn’t know what dreaming was.

Elysha Jaffee Green, you are more than a man could ever ask for
and more than I deserve.

I vow to spend every day of my life
giving you as much as you have given me.

I promise to remember the darkness before you
so that I will never forget the brilliance that you have brought to my life.

I promise to share everything that I have
and to try to give you everything you could ever want.

I promise to stand beside you,
hold your hand,
and be your strong and loving friend
through good times and bad.

I promise to always be the one to go into the basement at night
when the darkness frightens you,
to find you the best parking spots available,
and to shop with you and eat sushi, no matter how much I despise both.

Most importantly, I promise to love you,
to love you like no man before,
with all of my heart and mind, and soul,
until the end of these days and beyond.