P.S. I love You

So this is the first post since the poem completed and we celebrated our 20th anniversary of marriage. I still am so impressed by our 20 years. No because of the fact that we made it 20 years, but rather the 20 years themselves. They have been the best time of my life.

I figured this post had better be good. I have kind of made you used to daily posts and then suddenly nothing for a week. So this one had better be worth waiting for huh?

Here I am like 4,000 miles away - we just said good night. I think we both realized that not speaking for 12 hours will be a really long time. A REALLY long time. How nice is that? We were both kind of taken back by the fact that we won't even talk for half a day. That is what is so cool about us isn't it? We like to spend time with each other or just talking to each other. We expect that kind of "interaction" all the time. When it isn't there we both feel like something is missing. In this case it is. This paragraph alone is making me miss you more.

I am going to take this space to tell you why that movie you and the girls think is so sad is really a happy story. The movie is "P.S. I love You". How you find it so sad is reasonable, but I guess why I think it is so happy is harder to explain.

To me the point of the movie is really that they share a love so strong that even after he dies he feels the need to care for her. Even after he is gone he is making sure that she is ok and he helps her transition the rest of her life. While it is sad that he has passed and they are not together. It is happy because so few people have experienced love that strong. I figure that love like that is a 1 in a billion chance in life. It is against all odds. It is truly special and anyone touched by it has to consider themselves lucky to have even had it for a little while.

It is like us. We take for granted that we have what we have. We are lucky. So much luckier than other people. "Us" is all we will ever need. Whether we live for the next 70 years together or the next 70 weeks. We have to recognize that we have made so much happiness over the past 20 years that every little bit we add to it just makes us luckier. When we wake up tomorrow we will have had more happiness while we slept than some people ever experience in a lifetime. I am not thinking we have some impending doom, but rather recognizing that this is our gift and we should appreciate the gift.

So while she is sad in the movie, she is lucky. Lucky that someone, despite a tragedy, is looking out for her because of their love. Someone who felt so strongly about her he planned an elaborate scheme to care for her after he passed. It is one of few examples of true love.

So that is what we have. True love. It makes us happy. It makes us smile. It may makes us feel sad when we are apart, but the fact that it can do that should make us happy that we have it in the first place. You are my true love.

Good night sweetie.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

The Anniversary Poem - Happy Anniversary

I have been so excited to give this gift to you my love. I thought about writing something to go with it, but I settled on simply posting the poem. Thanks to our little girl for helping me. So here it is my ode to the past 20 years of marriage to you. The best time of my life.

The Anniversary Poem

Now I wake up happy – warm in a lovers’ embrace

And every time she sneezes I believe its love.

The bells ring, the days change, and I awake to the last perfect thing.

And she moves just like a little girl – I become a child and she moves my world.

The only one I dream of – you’re still the one I kiss good night.

I look at her and I see the beauty of the light of music.

Want to tell you just how good it feels, when you look at me that way.

I saw one of your pictures, there was nothing I couldn’t see,
There is nothing in this world that I ever wanted more than to feel you deep in my heart.

I don’t know much, but I know one thing, and that’s I love you.

She sees shooting stars and comet tails – she’s got heaven in her eyes.

She’ll be my mirror, reflect what I am.

How I line my sky with all the silver you can use.

I love her so much; I don’t even know what planet I’m on.

Remind me that we’ll always have each other, when everything else is gone,

Love this strong, it just brings out the passion I never knew was here in me.

Love is danger, love is pleasure – love is pure – the only treasure

When silence greets my last goodbye, the words I need are in your eyes.

Ain’t this what dreams are made of…

You’re the best thing that ever happened to me or my world,

You’re the best thing that ever happened.

So don’t go away.

I hope you liked it. Happy 20th Anniversary.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

The Playlist of the Poem

Well the poem is just about complete. Tomorrow night I will post it a s our official 20 year anniversary poem. I have decided to switch around a few lines here and there so it will flow better. However tonight I thought I would simply build you a "play list" of sorts of all the songs in the poem. This post won't be so romantic or have a message, but I think the list itself is worth noting.

I'll go in reverse order like I was Casey Kasem or something:

20. Split Enz - "Message to my Girl"
19. Counting Crows - "Anna Begins"
18. David Gray - "Please forgive me"
17. Wire Train - "Last Perfect Thing"
16. Damien Rice - "Dogs"
15. Shania Twain - 'You're Still the One"
14. R.E.M. - "You Are the Everything"
13. Replacements - "Achin to be"
12. The Cure - "Pictures of You"
11. XTC - "Mayor of Simpleton"
10. Counting Crows - "Recovering the Satellites"
9. Echo and the Bunnymen - "Lips Like Sugar"
8. Counting Crows - "High Life"
7. Joe Jackson - "Stranger than Fiction"
6. Incubus - "Dig"
5. Anita Baker - "Just Because"
4. Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "The Power of Love"
3. James Blunt - "Shine On"
2. BoDeans - "Dreams"
1. Style Council - "You're the Best Thing"

I will do all possible to make this as a playlist on your MP3 player, but a few of the songs are very hard to find on Napster. I am not sure it is a list you would listen to anyway, but knowing you have it will make me feel better. By my count I had 3 Counting Crows and no other repeating bands/artists. Which is both expected and odd at the same time. It just illustrates how many artists it takes to represent our 20 years together. No one single person can deliver a message of love so powerfully. We needed 18 of them!

I have a post script of sorts. There are two songs that should be on the list and aren't. One because I simply couldn't add some Celine Dion to my list and the other because the reason it is one of our songs is a moment I wish I could have made different. I have a whole separate post planned for the latter sometime soon.

So tomorrow the unveiling of the final product. I am kind of excited to have you read the whole poem. Whether it rhymes or not you will know every line was carefully selected and put together because of our 20 years of love. I hope you are excited too!

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 20 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

It is nice to be home. By the time you read this we will have spent some time on our couch watching our TV with me rubbing your tired feet. Vacation and the wedding were nice, but nothing beats coming home. Maybe it is a part of vacation you take for granted - the joy of returning home.

Well this is it. The last entry. It is our song. As I have mentioned in this blog before we are truly lucky to have such a meaningful song to represent our 20 years of marriage together. It is unique and special. Just like our relationship. We didn't play Etta James at our wedding or Frank Sinatra or some other incredibly common - albeit romantic - song. That wouldn't fit us. We are something no one can match - and it is fitting we share a very unique song as "our song".

The song is obviously "You're the Best Thing" by the Style Council (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmRxrtNSQB4). Plain and simple it is a love song. A love song about a guy who knows what he has and knows what he needs to do to keep. He know how important what he has and what it means to his life. How perfect is that?

Here is a quick sampling of the lyrics:

"I could be discontent and chase the rainbows end
I might win much more but lose all that is mine
I could be a lot but I know I'm not
I'm content just with the riches that you bring"

Translated? I know what I have, I could want more, but why? Why would a man who has everything want for more? I could never want more. I have what I want. The love of my life. The reason I wake up in the morning.

"I might be a king and steal my peoples things
But I don't go for that power crazy way
All that I could rule but I don't check for fools
All that I need is to be left to live my way"

I certainly feel this way about you. All I want is to be with you. Today, tomorrow, the next day - forever. Every day I see you smile is a good day. Every day I get to touch your face is a day I treasure. Every day I get to hug you or kiss you is a day of remarkable achievement.

So I opted for the simplest lyric from the song. The one to end the poem. "You're the best thing that every happened to me or my world - your the best thing that ever happened - so don't go away".

Because if you weren't here, days just wouldn't be the same. I am so lucky I spent the past 20 years married to you. But not as lucky as I will be tomorrow or the next day or the next day or the next....It just keeps getting better.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 19 - 20 Line sin 20 Days

This marks the first time in the 20 days I actually "missed" a post. I know you will read it in the proper time frame and it will hardly be noticeable, but it still bothers me that I didn't get it done on time. It was a good time with the boys. A late time, but as usual we had fun with them. I wonder what kind of fun we will all have in 10 years? 20 Years? Who knows - but i know they love you so much.

There are only two songs remaining. Number one is probably very obvious. Number two is yet another song that once had an entire blog entry of it's very own.

The song is "Dreams" by The Bodeans. There is literally no Youtube reference to this song. The song has a very simple message. i think he is actually singing the song to his band. But I have adopted the message for us and our 20 years together. The song is about time spent together. Time where there ups and downs. Where the unexpected happened and you rolled with the punches. Times where there were so many days when you woke up happy and content you knew that this was not only relationship but a "life" that most people could only dream about.

"Sometimes we move with no choice
To the call of wild crazy voices
And you start to feel like a restless gone free
Well as years go by now you finally see"

Ain't this what dreams are made of? That is so true for us. In my wildest dreams, in my most perfect vision for my life, in any scenario where I knew I would find happiness - I could never have dreamt anything this perfect. If had written the script of my life - of our life - it would have bee exactly what has taken place over the past 20 years. Every smile, every tear, every hug, every kiss, every good time and every bad time. Moment by moment I live the life most people can only dream about living.

"There's a road up ahead and it's a long one
It's ridden on the restless and young
With a want and desire we'll move
You know there ain't nothin' else that you can do"

Who would have know that we - two people who seemed to have no real path to their lives - would craft such a perfect story. Such a perfect life. Such a perfect love. Because that is what wrote this story. Our perfect love. I will steal something from what you told our nephew last night for this post. It is true that we seem to have some magic power over each other. If my hug can "fix" things for you, I can assure you that just a slight touch of your hand on my neck or my face does exactly the same thing to me. Most people can only dream of such magic. So I only have the obvious lyric from this song. I know it doesn't fit the poem perfectly. But it fits our lives perfectly.

"ain't this what dreams are made" - Yes my love it is exactly the love most people only dream of....luckily we don't have to dream of it, we live it.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 18 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

It was no fun being separated today for so long. We have literally been together for a week and still have another week in front of us. I love spending time with you - any time with you is better than time without you.

Today's song is one I know you love as much as me. Yet I am pretty certain you didn't know that it reminds me so much of you. This is what I call an "airplane song". It is one of those songs I listen to on airplanes when I miss you most. It almost always brings a tear to my eye. It is a melancholy tear. One that reminds me how much I miss and how much I love you at the same time.

The song has a haunting tone and a beautiful melody. I am not going to tell you the name right off, but I think you will figure it out. The message of the song is above a love that out shines the world around it - just like ours. The song talks about how the rest of the world benefits from the love the two people share. How their love shines so bright it "paid for the cloud that we're dancing on".

The song is "Shine On" by James Blunt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DShPRhYVRFs). He nails it. I mean really nails it. The song makes me so aware of how other people (people who matter) must view the relationship we have. How maybe our children will have learned from us what a real relationship means. How a love can shine so bright it can affect more than just the couple who shines. That is us sweetie. Our love outshines even us.

This song warrants me showing all of the lyrics:

"Are they calling for our last dance?
I see it in your eyes. In your eyes.
Same old moves for a new romance.
I could use the same old lies, but I'll sing,
Shine on, just, shine on!

Close your eyes and they'll all be gone.
They can scream and shout that they've been sold out,
But it paid for the cloud that we're dancing on.
So shine on. Just shine on!
With your smile just as bright as the sun.
'Cause they're all just slaves to the gods they made
But you and I just shone.
Just shone.

And when silence greets my last goodbye,
The words I need are in your eyes, and I'll sing.
Shine On, just, shine on!
Close your eyes and they'll all be gone.
They can scream and shout that they've been sold out,
But it paid for the cloud that we're dancing on.
So shine on. Just shine on!
With your smile just as bright as the sun.
'Cause they're all just slaves to the gods they made,
But you and I just shone.
Just shone."


The part I like the best and I chose for the poem is the part in the last verse. "when silence greets my last goodbye, the words I need are in your eyes". Those amazing eyes. The ones that tell me everything about you. The ones that tell me your every thought. The ones that first showed me that you were the only one for me. They give away everything. they are the thing I love most about you. They have been since the moment I knew I loved you. They told me you loved me back.

We are down to 2 more songs.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 17 - 20 Line sin 20 days

Sorry that the update is coming this morning late. The trip in and subsequent trip out made this difficult. Aruba was fun, so sorry you felt so bad at the end. You got an awesome tan though - the tan looks even better in your new nightgowns.

We are down to 4 songs - and they are each carefully chosen. However, there were a few that didn't make the cut I felt I should tell you about. Here are a few:

"Closedown" by The Cure (happens to be between Pictures of You and Lovesong on an album best played in the rain. It was THE song at THAT moment)

"This Year's Love" by David Gray (beautiful song - one line reminds me of you but the overall song is about hurt)

"Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits ("You and me babe how bout it?")

Today's song is one I know you don't even like. In fact I think you hate the band pretty significantly. They are hardly know for their romance. The band is Frankie Goes to Hollywood. No the song isn't Relax or anything lame like that. The song is a powerful ballad called "The Power of Love". It is the only song I think he actually "sings" and he does it well.

The message of the song is about how he protects the person he loves. How he uses the love they have together to protect each other from harm. How their love has insulated the couple from any type of external force that could separate them. It is exactly how I feel about us. I think the Beatles sang "all you need is love" and as silly as the thought may be - I believe it wholeheartedly. It is really all we have every needed.

In the "Power of Love" he sings of protecting the one he loves:

"I'll protect you from the hooded claw
Keep the vampires from your door
When the chips are down I'll be around
With my undying, death-defying
Love for you

Envy will hurt itself
Let yourself be beautiful
Sparkling love, flowers
And pearls and pretty girls
Love is like an energy
Rushin' rushin' inside of me"

He sings very strong and with enormous emotion. But it is a simple message. Our love has protected us from so many things. We have had ups and downs over the 20 years we have been married. Financial issues, big moves, kids with troubles at school or with friends, family squabbles, arguments about small things and arguments about big things have come and gone. Yet we come through because at the end of every day we still love each other. We still want to hold the others hand. We want nothing more than for our love to wrap us up and "protect" us from anyone or anything else. So long as we have each other. This is exactly how marriages get to 20 years or 30 or 40 or 70 years. It is the thing no one else realizes that we have mastered. We have each other. we have a love for each other no one else can with understand or grasp even at its simplest level.

The line from the song I picked is on that theme:

"This time we go sublime
Lovers entwine-divine divine
Love is danger, love is pleasure
Love is pure-the only treasure

I'm so in love with you
Purge the soul
Make love your goal"

It is too long for the poem so I only took "Love is danger, love is pleasure - Love is pure-the only treasure" because it fits the poem. However, the message I want you to take from this is that I count on our love to pull me up when I am down, rescue me when I am trapped or sooth me when I need calm. Because of that I will use it to protect you from any harm or fears you may have.

Because we have "The Power of Love".

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 16 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

I am so sorry you feel so bad today. It is a lousy way for yo to end a vacation you seemed to be enjoying so much. Smile sweetie, I'll do everything I can to make the rest better for you.

We are officially in the top 5 and the poem hits a few bumps in the road from here. It wasn't my intent by the list/poem had some rules it had to follow. Like a few of the songs HAD to be within the last few days. At this point I think it is only fair to tell you that this "20 Day Poem" wasn't my original intent for our anniversary. I had planned on taking the first tape I ever made you and converting it to a playlist for your MP3 player. So one day I stood in the basement with your tape. I played the whole thing (fast forwarded actually) on that stereo on the table in the back (you never noticed that I didn't put the extension cord away). Wrote down every song and started my quest to find each song. It is the "second" reason I had to buy that album converter thing. However, I realized during the process that there were many songs on that tape that just aren't as fitting as our 20 years warrants. So that idea morphed into the blog entries you have been reading for the past few weeks. Frankly, the new idea was better and more thoughtful anyway.

Today's entry is a result of that tape. As I stood in the basement it is one of two songs I listened to end to end (no fast forwarding). I was so struck by the lyrics and how perfectly they fit our near 20 years together. It is an amazing love song. Sung so powerfully by an amazing voice. If I were to have converted this list into a tape, i think it is also one of the few songs you would actually listen to regularly.

The song is "Just Because" by Anita Baker. Verse after verse of how the love she found changed her life. Verse after verse of how the love she found amazes her. Verse after verse of how much the love she found means to her. The song is simply amazing. Here is an example:

"You're a diamond in my mind, a treasure found
A precious gem to me, you're nice to have around
I'm so glad I took the path that led to this
And it's amazin', loving you, I'm doin' things
I never thought I'd do
I don't know, there ain't no explanation
Of why I'm sharin' love at last this way
I won't try to work out all my reasons
I'll use these words to simply say

I love you just because
I love you just because
Just because I do, my darlin'
Emotions more than words can help me say
I love you, baby, just because you're you"

I don't really need to add much more to this entry than to give you the line that I chose from this song. "Love this strong, it just brings out the passion - I never knew was here in me". It is so true my love. Just Because of you I found a part of me that was never there before. Just Because of you I found true happiness. I don't talk much about the me before you, because frankly it isn't as important as the me after you.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 15 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I know it is one of your favorite holidays. Consider yourself pinched (I saw what you woke up wearing - it was not green).

We are approaching less than a week until our anniversary. 20 years - wow. I am glad we are going to spend a weekend with "just us" next weekend. It won't matter which hotel we choose, as long as we are together.

Today's song actually got a whole blog entry some time ago. In fact at least 4 songs on this list had that honor. This one might have been a big surprise to both of us when I wrote about it the last time. But there are at least 3 lines in the song that are romantic and powerfully sung.

The song is "Dig" by Incubus. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5YwwA-FK8c). Essentially the song is about a relationship. Call it any relationship. Every relationship isn't always perfectly in sync. Things go wrong. People say things they wish they hadn't. We all have bad days. But in the end the relationship still exists and gives reason to go on.

One of the first verses talks about "weakness" and how we all show it from time to time. Something goes wrong and a real relationship fixes it and moves on.

"We All Have A Weakness
But Some Of Ours Are Easier To Identify. Look Me In The Eye
And Ask For Forgiveness;
We'll Make A Pact To Never Speak That Word Again
Yes You Are My Friend."

I guess you get the point of the song. However what really is cool about the song is how he refers to the strength of the relationship. We have that kind of strength. More than any relationship I have ever witnessed. There is such a tremendous bond between us that we can overcome anything. Yet despite this awesome power we have had little to overcome during the past 20 years. Here is an example from the song:

"We All Have Something That Digs At Us,
At Least We Dig Each Other
So When Weakness Turns My Ego Up
I Know You'll Count On The ME From Yesterday"

I love that last line. We all have bad days, but "I know you'll count on the ME from yesterday". We know each other so well. We what to expect from other. We know how much love is between us - ALL THE TIME. No matter what small spats or arguments we may have. Our love comes shining through.

The line from the song I picked is pretty romantic and to me as powerful as any in the poem thus far. It is why I tried so hard to put it near the end. Ironically I had two to chose from:

One was "Dig Me Up From Under What Is Covering - The Better Part Of Me". I think means that when either of us are at our worst the other can "dig up" the better part of the us.

The one I picked was better. "Remind Me That We'll Always Have Each Other - When Everything Else Is Gone". Because I know that is always true. We will always have each other. No matter what. We have for 20 years, we will for another 50 or so. And with every day I will love you just a little bit more.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 14 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

Today's entry is pretty fitting seeing as how we are having such fun in Aruba. we have had a lot of fun over the past 20 years. I still think to this day it is our "secret sauce" for a successful marriage.

The song I picked for today is a solid Joe Jackson entry. It is easily his most fun song and when we saw him in concert I was so excited when it was on his playlist. One of the reason's I like Joe so much much is a comment he once made about his music and how people have "reverent" feelings about music and artists. That music to some people has significance and that certain songs or artists hold a meaningful place in people's lives. I guess this 20 Lines in 20 Days makes that even more true.

The song is "Stranger than Fiction" (absolutely nothing on Youtube on this one) and it is just plain fun. He sings about him and his love. How they find fun even in a fight, because the making up is so awesome. "so we fight every evening, but in the morning I just love her more". How he gets trapped int he rain trying to deliver her roses and even though eh finally makes it at 3 AM she still loves them.

One part of the song reminds me so much of the early years of our relationship. The times at your apartment or my apartment. The times when a whole day just "slipped away". It goes like this:

"Excuse me operator . . . tell me what time it is
Me and my lover been in bed all day
I think i strained a muscle
I didn't know i had
And tell me what day it is anyway"

Sound familiar? We were so young and in love. We are still so young an in love. We work because every day is a day we love each other.

The gist of the song is that no matter what happens it can be overcome by love. A love as strong as ours can overcome anything. While I have stressed through out this blog that our love makes things so "simple", I really mean it does. All we need is a constant reminder of our love for each other. Like the song says:

"And life goes on . . . filled with disasters and friction
And life can be strange
But love can be stranger than fiction
Only love can be stranger than fiction"

The line I picked is more cute than compelling. "I love her so much i don't even know what planet i'm on". It is just fun. We are fun. What planet am I on anyway? No worries as long as it is the one you are on I am fine.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 13 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

Today at the pool I looked over at you and for like the 10 millionth time in the past 20 years I was struck by how simply beautiful you are and have been for so long. I am very very lucky.

Today's song is a song that frankly I don't think fits "us" so much. But it is very much a love song. It is the Counting Crows again. Adam sings about a girl who has a life that is pretty messed up. All he wants to do is protect her and make her life better. He even goes so far as to sing about making his life so worse so hers won't be so bad. It is a very sad song, but his message is clear. He loves this girls so much he will go to any length to prove it to her.

The song is "High Life". There are a few pretty dark lyrics. Many of which in no way represent us. But the overall message is one I feel pretty strongly about. It is how I got my "super Man" image. I too want nothing more than to make your life wonderful. To protect you from harm. To make every moment of every day something you treasure. To make you never feel pain and if you do to not have to feel that pain alone.

So in a sense it is a song about us - just not with a story like ours. He does however add one the Counting Crows best lyrics from any of their songs. It completely sums up the way i feel about my role as your husband and the person you will be with forever.

"Waiting here for you
Wanting to tell you
How I line my sky with all the silver you can use
Just the way you do
Thought if I told you"

It is truly Adam's best moment. A lyric I cherish for you. "How I Line my Sky with all the Silver You can Use". I would line my sky with whatever you needed my love. Have done so for the past 20 years and will do so for the next 50 or so.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 12 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

We are now down to precious few days until our 20^th Anniversary. I was going to say this was my first ever international entry (as we are currently in Aruba) but I am pretty sure you got an update or two while I was in London. So this is my first Caribbean update.

Today’s song shouldn’t come as any surprise. I say that because I am pretty sure I have uttered the phrase “I Like the Kissing” about a million times in our 20 years together. I really do like the kissing. I like kissing you.

Kissing has always been an important part of our relationship. We have 3 pretty famous kisses.

The first was the apparently shocking kiss on our first date. While you may have thought we were just friends, I was very certain that there was no way I wasn’t going to kiss you. The irony of that kiss is always going to be that it was my first and only “first date kiss”. That it was with you makes it even more special.

The second kiss was on our Halloween date. Let’s just say I needed to kiss you to know that we would never be separated again.

The last famous kiss came shortly after we said “I do”. While that ceremony wasn’t what we wanted it to be, the kiss was as meaningful as anything in our lives.

So what is today’s song? I picked “Lips Like Sugar” by Echo and the Bunnymen. While the song itself doesn’t sound romantic, it turns out that lyrics really are very romantic.

There are a few very sexy, romantic lines in the song. “She floats like a swan, grace on the water” or “She flows like a river, She’ll ask and You’ll give her”. All of these followed by the haunting “Lips like sugar, sugar kisses” chorus.

But I picked a very different line. One so indicative of how I feel about you I am quite shocked I have never referenced it before.

“She’ll be my mirror, reflect what I am”…..ah your lips like sugar. Sugar kisses.

Additionally, while you came into our relationship as a world famous kisser, I think we have really honed this to an art over 20 years together. We kiss perfectly. Kisses that are always romantic, always soft, always with passion and always perfect.

I really like the kissing.

You’re the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 11 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

We are into the top 10 now. The top 10 songs/lines of our 20 years together. Now technically these aren't ranked (well sort of not ranked as you will see) but we are officially in the final countdown.

Today's song is one I think is really more about you and the way your wonderful mind works. Much of the song really doesn't fit but there is one part that is so romantic I can't help but think of you when I hear it. The song is about someone who has been through much and yet somehow still shines. SO maybe there is some of you in there, but the "still shines" part is clearly you.

The song is the 2nd Counting Crows entry. If you remember from an earlier post they are actually a whole band i dedicate to you. You are the reason I love them so. The song is "Recovering the Satellites" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjW6XOIQQ7g). Adam really wails on this song. He has so much emotion in his voice. I am not sure how it affects or what it means to him but it is powerful.

Once of my favorite verses remind me of you pretty clearly:

"Maybe you were shot down in pieces
Maybe I slipped in between
But we were gonna be the wildest people they ever hoped to see
Just you and me

So why'd you come home to this sleepless town
It's a lifetime commitment
Recovering the satellites
All anybody really wants to know is...
when you gonna come down"

The song to me is about two people who really weren't sure where they were headed until the found each other. "Maybe I slipped in between" means to me that maybe I found that one perfect moment where we both knew for the first time in a long time that we found that person. Maybe I am wrong. But I know that had I not found you my life would be terribly different. What I have now is because I found you.

The line I picked comes from a verse I know I have turned up in the car just for you to hear. I think it is poetry all on its own.

"She sees shooting stars and comet tails
She's got heaven in her eyes
She says I don't need to be an angel
But I'm nothing if I'm not this high

But we only stay in orbit
For a moment of time
And then you're everybody's satellite
I know that you were mine"

The line that goes into the poem is "She sees shooting stars and comet tails - She's got heaven in her eyes". I smiled just typing it.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 10 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

Sorry about how you had to spend your evening. Our little (and she still is) girl is so lucky to have you. We all are lucky.

Tonight's song may not be one you were expecting. But the one line is so easily fitting for us I have always known it reminded me of you. The song in fact is such a sweet love song, it has to be a song that fits us.

The band is XTC and the song is the "Mayor of Simpleton" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Da9sc6YDBo). I just watched the video and the song is kind of silly. But isn't silly one of those things that has made our marriage so successful? Isn't a good laugh really at the heart of our 20 years together? This song is a tongue in cheek love song.

Essentially the guy is singing about all the things he isn't very good at in life. He has never been to school. He has no idea how to run his computer. Math scares him. He doesn't know big words. He is a simpleton. The "mayor" of simpleton. But you know what he does know? He knows how in love he is with the person about who he sings. That part is simple. He is simply in love. He does that very well. He is me.

As you are certainly aware there are many things at which I am not very good. Many things that I simply do not grasp. But I "get" loving you. It comes so easy. So simply to me. Maybe it is because you are so easy to love. Maybe because I know that you love me so much as well. Whatever it is it is simply perfect. If being in love with you means I am the "Mayor of Simpleton" then it is an office I want forever.

The line I picked is obvious..... "I don't know much, but I know one thing and that's I love you".

The song is very silly, but my love for you is very serious. No matter how simple it may be....

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 9 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

This may be the shortest entry of the 20. My reason is simple, for this entry I want you to do what I do every time I hear this song. Close your eyes. Think about our wedding ceremony in Chicago. You and I dancing. This song playing. Us joking about how "long it was". The song surrounding us as if we were the only two people in the room. It is exactly what I remember every time I hear it. No matter what I feel you when I hear the song.

The song is "Pictures of You" by The Cure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG0Q3kR7_9c). We have the cute story about the two pictures of you I had, but in our 20 years of marriage that memory has been replaced by the one above. So close your eyes sweetie. Tell me you picture it as vividly as I do.

The line I picked is simple enough "There is nothing in the world that ever wanted more than to feel you deep in my heart". I feel you deep in my heart, I want for nothing else in this world.

Few of "our" songs hit me like this one. I wish we were dancing right now. I always do.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 8 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

OK it is like 4AM your time. I just got to the hotel a while ago and now I officially cannot sleep. So what better way to spend my time than to update the 20 Year Anniversary Poem?

Today's song is more about you than us. I don't know that I have a ton of reason to have this song remind me so much of you but it does. I think the reason I think of you is that I know you better than anyone else knows you. And that is kind of what the song is about. a guy who knows the girl almost better than she knows herself.

The song is by the Replacements. It is called "Achin to Be" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7mrHW0sL8). Paul Westerberg (a genius in his own right) sings about a girl so misunderstood, so not who people perceive her to be that she is just "achin to be" understood.

Now I don't really think of you that way. You aren't misunderstood, there isn't some hidden side of you that others never see. None of that would be true. But the part I like about the song is that the singer is the only one who really knows the girl. Whether there are hidden parts of you that no one sees, I see them. I know you so well. I know you so well because you have let me get to know everything about you for the past 20 years. I started liking this song for you a long time ago. Because a long time ago I really got to know you. When I did I really knew I loved you.

The coolest verse of the song goes like this:

"Well she's kind of like an artist
Who uses paints no more
You never show me what you're doing
Never show a soul

Well, I saw one of your pictures
There was nothin' that I couldn't see
If no one's on your canvas
Well, I'm achin' to be

She closes her mouth to speak and
Closes her eyes to see
Thought about an' only loved
She's achin' to be
Just like me"

You see my love I know the other side of you. The side that doesn't come out when you are uncomfortable around people you don't know. The side of you that can make anyone laugh. The side of you I love so much. So the line I picked was "Well, I saw one of your pictures, there was nothin' I couldn't see". Because I see everything about you. I see it through our 20 years together and I see it through my eyes filled with love for you.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 7 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

The next song on the is another surprise. One you will remember, but one I don't mention that often. However, it is a pretty haunting song.

While I know you hate R.E.M. Michael Stipe can really add some emotion to a song. He does so in the entry. The song is "You are the everything" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87eXabsf9mc). It is really pretty. There is one section in the song where he talks about some pretty ordinary stuff in life. Then he ends the verse with the haunting "you are the everything". Here is that verse:

"I think about this world a lot and I cry
And I've seen the films and the eyes
But I'm in this kitchen
Everything is beautiful
And she is so beautiful
She is so young and old
I look at her and I see the beauty
Of the light of music
The voices talking somewhere in the house
Late spring and you're drifting off to sleep
With your teeth in your mouth
You are here with me
You are here with me
You have been here and you are everything"

The verse basically indicates that no matter what, no matter how simple or insignificant the girls does she is beauty. Because of that beauty he realizes she is the everything. I think you are beautiful in so many ways. The way look. The way you smile. The way you think. The way you laugh. In every way I see beauty in you. Like looking at a painting that tells a million stories. You are the everything. Our lives, our 20 years, may have had ordinary moments, but as long as you were there they were beautiful. They were perfect.

I picked the line "I look at her and I see the beauty of the light of music". Given the poem it seems to fit best and I couldn't use the whole verse.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 6 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

Seems odd to make two posts in one day. But my goal was one a day and I am going to make it.

The song for this post may be the most surprising yet. When you list the bands that made this list they are all very "Jim Music" genres. However, this one song really fits us. even if the music genre represents something I rarely listen to. However, this is a song you brought to our list and because of that it has stuck with me for a long time.

The artist is Shania Twain - yup Shania Twain. And while I don't generally think much of her, the song and her reason for writing it really fit us like a glove.

The song is "You're still the one" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XENujsU3Wg). I remember the first time you had me listen to it. We were in the Expedition. You were pretty excited it had come on the radio. I was thrilled that you had added an us song to my ever growing list.

The song is basically much like our story. The story of beat all odds relationship. Two people that "other people" thought wouldn't make and they did. They proved everyone wrong. Just like us. The song talks about things they still do despite the fact that no one thought they would make it this far.

"They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong "

That pretty much sums the song up. However, the lyric I picked is especially fitting for our relationship.

"The only one I dream of - You're still the one I kiss good night"

Perfect isn't it. You're still the one sweetie - after 20 amazing years - you're still the one.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 5 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

Sorry this wasn't there when you woke up this morning. I really did intend to have posted it even though we were out.

The next song is maybe my all time favorite for you. I cannot express how much emotion is in the singers voice when he sings these lyrics. It is really quite moving. I can't even listen to them without feeling an extraordinary amount of love for you. It truly brings a tear to my eye every time I hear the lyrics I chose for the poem.

The singer is Damien Rice, I owe my fascination with him to you, and the song is Dogs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsW-cVy62pw).

The song is just simply a love song about a boy and girl. A simple boy and a complex girl. He just loves her. She just amazes him. I wish I could write more than that. The way the song is sung is so powerful.

This is the part of the song I like the most. So much of this is true about you. Your "little girl" smiles. The fun way you approach life. You are angel. My angel. Just read the lyrics. I can't type anything better.

"Oh and she's always dressed in white
She's like an angel and she burns my eyes
Oh and she turns she pulls a smile
We drive her round and she drives us wild
Oh and she moves like a little girl
I become a child and she moves my world
And she gets splashed in rain and turns away and leaves me standing"

The part I am adding to the poem is "Oh and she moves like a little girl - I become a child and she moves my world". You bring that kind of emotion to me - that kind of love. Because of you I am a different person. A better person.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 4 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

So far so good. This is proving to be challenging to say the least, but thus far the lines are knitting together better than expected. We will see how they do when we get 12-15 songs into this poem.

Today's song is simple enough. Just the title says what the song means to me. That it comes from one of my all-time (and least known to the rest of the world) bands makes it even better. The band is Wire Train. Honestly, outside of me and my brother few know the band.

The song is "The Last Perfect Thing" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uO31wVqGB0). It is a rocking little pop tune with some quite odd lyrics. But the gist of the song is that the relationship is "The Last Perfect Thing". I think we are that thing.

How could anyone have a better marriage than this. How could anything be so perfect? There have been a lot of marriages and there will be many more, but there won't be any like ours. No couple will make each other laugh the way do. They won't be silly the way we are. They won't share what we share. They won't hold hands like we do. They won't kiss the way we do. The won't because what they have isn't perfect. We are the last perfect thing.

The line I like and have chosen for the poem:

"The bells ring, the days change - and I awake to the last perfect thing".

I feel that way every day.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 3 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

I just re-read the past two days entries. I bet the countdown of the number of days is pretty annoying - so I am only going to do that every few days until we get below 5 or 6 days left.

Today's song offered so many choices of lines - bu tone really stood out to me. The artist is David Gray. If you remember a few weeks ago I posted about how he really wrote every song for his wife. That prior to her he had a "block" of sorts, but after meeting her the words flowed so freely. She was his muse. I think that is so cool and I am so jealous. But honestly my love, this blog gets my words flowing pretty well so often I think you may be my muse too.


I have more than 1 David Gray song in the list (for obvious reason as he pretty much writes only love songs), but this one is certainly my favorite. The song is "Please forgive me" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EYribhLoPA). It is such a love song.

David Gray is basically singing a song apologizing for being so in love that he cannot communicate how it feels. That he is so overcome with his love in so many ways he cannot even put it into words.

"Please forgive me
If I act a little strange
For I know not what I do.
Feels like lightning running through my veins
Everytime I look at you
Everytime I look at you"

Love is such a powerful emotion. So hard to express. I think that is how you know when you are truly in love. When it becomes so difficult to really even explain to the person you love how much you love them. But telling them is also so necessary. Maybe that's the angst like feeling that we all feel when we are really in love. The feeling that causes those goofy looks and those sheepish smiles. With you my love I have had countless goofy looks and sheepish smiles. Because there are so many times I just want to express to you how much I love you.

I picked the best line from the song for my poem. The line I think is most romantic.

"Want to tell you just how good it feels
When you look at me that way"

It has two meanings. One is that he wants his love to know how good it feels when she looks at him lovingly. That is obvious. The other is that he just wants to tell her just how good it feels period. And that when she looks at him "that way" he knows she feels it too.

So there you have it - line 3. I hope you "feel that way" too. After 20 years I know WE do.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

Day 2 - 20 Lines in 20 Days

OK we are on to 19 days until our day of celebration of wedded bliss.

This song and the particular lyric are a symbol of sorts. They come from my favorite band. The Counting Crows have 3 entries in the list, but this one is the most important. As I love the band this one lyric is the biggest reason why. And that is reason is directly because of you.

The song is called "Anna Begins". (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUr1xZMo8Gc - the acoustic version is even better). You can hear it in his voice. It is love. He even sings "if this isn't love - then I don't want to talk about it" because he KNOWS its love. He knows this feeling he has. Now I have to admit, I like the band before hearing this song. But this song - this one lyric - is what hooked me. He sings about loving to watch her sleep. He watches her "toss and turn". His love is overcoming him. Every thing she does is just another reflection of his love for her.

So this verse is what got me. It turned this from my favorite band to "my favorite band because of you" (I think I have a post about this in the blog somewhere).

"The time when kindness falls like rain
It washes me away and Anna begins to change my mind
And everytime she sneezes I believe it's love and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing "

That one lyrics. "everytime she sneezes I believe it's love". Wow. I am just going to leave it at that.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.

The Anniversary Gift - 20 Lines in 20 Days

We are now just about 20 days from our 20th Wedding anniversary. 20 years together. 20 years of happiness. 20 years of waking up next to my best friend. 20 years of spending every day thinking about you. The best 20 years of my life. So with that I needed something special for this blog. Something that commemorates the 20 years we have spent together. It had to be "poetic". However, as you know writing poems isn't my thing. Then you gave me the opportunity I was looking for - a moment of clarity.

About the time our nephew was getting married we started talking about the songs they wanted played at their wedding. Obviously they had a first dance song. But it hit me then that while we have the perfect song for our relationship, we also have many other songs that remind me of you. They aren't all perfect, but each has at least one line that speaks to me about you. I hear so many songs and think of you. I actually have a playlist on my MP3 player with nearly 40 songs that remind me of you. How many men can say that they have so much that reminds them of how much the love their wives?

With that comes the first of your 20th Wedding Anniversary gifts. A poem of sorts. A combination of the lines from 20 songs that speak to me about you and our relationship. It won't rhyme, it probably won't even flow well together, but it will be my poem to you.

Over the next 20 days leading up to our anniversary I will post an entry about each song. Whenever possible I'll add a link to the YouTube video or something. My hope is that you will listen to each song then read the blog. But each day I will take the one line that reminds most of you and put it on the sidebar to the left of this main area. Over the 20 days it will grow into the poem of our 20 years. I'll add a brief blog entry for each song and what it means to me about you. Each day you will have something to read about our relationship leading up to our glorious celebration of 20 years together.

I hope you like it - it is going to be quite a challenge to get it just right. Here goes....

The first song is by Split Enz. You have heard it plenty of times before. It is called "Message to my Girl". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUC_jE78FNE

The song is a reminder of early in our relationship. The song tells a story of a guy who realizes he is in love. It kind of scares him. "I don't want to say I love you - that would give away too much" the singer croons. He hasn't really felt this before. It is cool to not be in love. It is safe. Yet the feeling cannot be overcome. He realizes that it is selfish to not share this love he has with the other person. "It is no new years resolution - its more than that".

Then he realizes that all he needs to do is give in. Give in to this incredible feeling he has. No matter what anyone else says h eknows doing so will make him happy. And it does. So there comes the line I chose for you.

"Now I wake up happy - warm in a lovers embrace"

Because sweetie once I realized how much in love with you I was, everything was better. I wake up happy every day. Just having you in my life makes everything better. Like the song I was so scared to tell you. So afraid to feel that way. Obviously so stupid because once I let myself love you the way I do - life became good.

Now 20 years later it just keeps getting better. Every day. Thus this line becomes the first entry to the poem of our 20 years together.

I hope this works the way I planned it. Happy Anniversary.

You're the world to me. I love you more than anything in the world.