Shadae

My Most Beloved Shadae,

I pray this letter finds you in excellent health and spirits, and that the postal service has delivered it with haste sufficient to arrive upon the occasion of your birthday. I dispatched it some six weeks hence, trusting it would traverse the considerable distance between us in time for this most auspicious day.

I confess, my darling, that I have taken pen to paper on innumerable occasions attempting to articulate the depths of my affection for you, yet each year I find the English language woefully inadequate to the task. Nevertheless, I am compelled to make the attempt.

I am transported in memory to the year 1810—forgive me, 2010—when Providence first saw fit to cross our paths. I could not have fathomed then that the lady before me would become my most cherished confidante, my devoted partner in all things, the mother of our precious children, and the great love of my existence. Fate works in mysterious ways indeed.

Together we have constructed something most extraordinary. Not merely a marriage—though the 29th of July, 1817, shall forever remain the finest day I have known—but a true partnership. A home abundant with laughter, delightful chaos, boundless love, and two remarkable small persons who have inherited the finest qualities of us both.

To observe you with our dear Stevie and young Sterling reminds me daily of why I fell so thoroughly and irrevocably in love with you. Your patience when mine has been exhausted. Your joy, which illuminates every chamber you enter. The manner in which your mere presence transforms our house into a home most warm.

You have remained steadfast through all circumstances—the victories and the defeats, the evenings that extended into morning, the mornings that arrived far too swiftly. You believed in me when I could not believe in myself. You challenged me to become a better man and loved me still when I fell short of the mark.

Thus, upon this day of your birth, I wish for you to know: I see you, my love. I see all that you do for our family. I see the sacrifices, the devotion, the inexhaustible energy you pour into making our lives beautiful. And I am grateful. Each and every day.

I raise my glass to another year of grand adventures, of watching our little ones flourish, of stolen moments when they have at last surrendered to slumber, of building this life together—one day at a time.

I remain, as ever, hopelessly and completely yours. The happiest of birthdays to you, my love.

Your Most Devoted Servant and Adoring Husband,
Mr. Steve Huynh, Esq., Gentleman of Leisure, Baron of the Remote Control, Lord Protector of the Thermostat, Grateful Recipient of Your Fine Snacks, & Humble Servant to Her Majesty Shadae

P.S. — I do hope the carrier pigeons made good time. The last correspondence took nearly three fortnights to arrive, and I feared you might think me neglectful in my duties as a husband.

P.P.S. — This website is yours now, my love. Shape it, grow it, make of it whatever your heart desires. Consider it a canvas awaiting the touch of your hand.