Jamie and I are celebrating 20 years together this week. It's not our anniversary, but rather when we first started dating. We were both in college: she was a freshman and I was a junior after having taken 2 years off. We hit it off immediately and found we had a lot in common as missionary kids. Most bonding of all, however, was that I had just recently lost my mother to cancer and Jamie's father was entering the last stages of cancer. So our relationship was very serious from the beginning. Discussions about death and what losing a parent means were heavy but brought us closer together.

We survived long-distance when I moved to South Korea, we survived even longer-distance when we moved 3,000 miles to the East Coast, and then we moved 8,000 miles to Hong Kong. And now another few thousand to Europe. Through it all, we've always had so much fun together. She's my best friend, the person I trust the most in the world, and I always love being with her. Each date feels like the first, and that's the absolute truth.

We've gotten to travel all over the world together and we've survived some very stressful times. And we've learned so much together about ourselves, the world, and life in general. I always say, "it was the smartest decision I ever made," and that's the truth. From the very beginning, because of how we started, we were always conscious of the fact that you don't know how much time you have together in this life, so we've always appreciated every minute we've had together.

Here's to at least 40 more years together. We're so grateful to all of our friends and family that have supported us over the years.

There's a line from a song by one of my favorite artists, Terence Trent D'arby that always makes me think of Jamie because it's so true:

"If it were not for your sweetness, I would not know who I am."