To My Husband

This was Yasar's Valentine's Day gift in 2008. While we've added some layers of struggle, we've built a rock-solid foundation. I just wanted to share this with you today in honor of my soulmate, Yasar.





The day God created you,

He had a special plan.

He knew that you would fit so well

With a girl in a distant land.

Through growing up, and moving out,

Life experiences like notches on a belt.

Learning lessons that would one day

Serve them, together, in a special way.

One day the girl got a new job,

Wendy’s would be her new profession.

And this dashing man, a professional fry-guy,

Would be her new obsession.

But the two didn’t understand each other,

The language proved a barrier.

So they moved in different directions,

Regretfully passing in two different futures.

A few years passed, higher education desired,

A fateful meeting at college.

The language barrier diminished,

A renewed affection acknowledged.

What to say about those first days?

A new love affair is so exciting!

Atlantic City, Chincoteague, Niagara Falls,

They fell for each other while driving.

Alas, it is never so easy as it should be,

Trouble came in the form of their families.

Decisions to make, where do their hearts lie?

They clung to each other, hoping to deny.

A long-distance move, was it a mistake?

A college apartment, poverty, dismay.

Struggle, anger, fights, and tears,

Immaturity was the order of the day.

One day a decision was made,

To separate one into two.

They weren’t ready to promise

A lifetime of being a couple.

A few months went by, independence.

They learned to be without the other.

Then one blustery February morning,

Cupid again brought them together.

Should they stay? Should they split?

The compatibility was still so obvious!

Falling back into old habits,

Comfortable, like well worn pajamas.

Two became one again, as God had intended.

A wedding was being planned.

A special surprise, the best one ever,

Sealed them as a family forever.

One May afternoon, in front of family,

They committed to be married.

The beach, a helicopter ride, Pet Star,

Two with a third in the waiting.

Spring turned to summer, summer to fall,

The girl’s waistline expanding,

A trip to the hospital, pain, exhilaration,

Evidence of God’s perfect blessing.

A little boy, the center of the world,

With his daddy’s beautiful eyes.

Their hearts, so full of love, overflowed,

The precious gift entrusted to them.

A move, a business, a baby becoming a child,

Struggle, conflict, problems and solutions.

Mortgage, taxes, utilities, and adulthood.

They face them together, united.

In my heart, I am always grateful

To God for His infinite forethought

The day, on the other side of the world,

That you became you, destined for me. For us.

I love you. When it’s hard, when I’m mad, when you’re mad, when we just don’t seem to fit together, when we want to kill each other. When the stresses of this life seem overwhelming. You’re still the one.