Love Poem

Jermaine and I celebrated our two anniversary by going to Busboys and Poets Open Mic Night in Shirlington, VA tonight. When it was my turn, I surprised him with this poem:




I still remember the day we met

5 years ago

driving down the hot Georgia coast

in James-Michael's Jeep

I was smitten with you almost immediately and I tried very hard

not to let it show

Do you remember our first kiss in Union Station?

Do you remember all those nights you made me laugh so hard I cried? 

Do you remember when you told me that I had cute feet?

Do you remember meeting my daughter - whose now your daughter - in the driveway of my parent's house?

Do you remember walking along the beach. You picked up trash to impress me. And you did.

Do you remember all those long distance phone calls? Talking until dawn about everything and nothing.

Do you remember calling me up to say, "What would you say if I asked you to be my girlfriend?" I think I dropped the phone.

Do you remember me calling you to share that terrible news. You comforted me from 400 miles away while I sobbed into the receiver.

Do you remember our first 4th of July - meeting in the middle of Maryland and North Carolina  in some no name town? We ate the best pizza and shared a picnic by the lake. I wore that skirt you hate.

Do you remember all the trips - me to you and you to me and how eventually we knew we couldn't be that far apart.

Do you remember when I moved to Maryland and got a job selling floor tile just so we could be closer?

Do you remember your mom encouraging me to go back to college?

Do you remember that first semester - you stayed up with me all night to help me write that horrible 15 page paper.

Do you remember when we broke up - because moving here was so damn hard on me - and I took it out on you.

Do you remember falling in love again? The night we became more than friends - again? We vowed this time it would be different. And it was.

Do you remember getting down on one knee? The day you said to me, "What would you say if I asked you to be my wife?" 

Do you remember our wedding? What a fantastic party - realizing the sheer amazingness of our family and friends. Six year old Sadie stood up to make her speech - looked straight at you to share with everyone how she had been practicing loving her new dad.

Do you remember our honeymoon night? How awkward it was? I was so nervous I drank all the champagne.

Do you remember our first year of marriage? Man, that was hard! We moved in together, you became a dad, I started a new school and then you lost your job.

Do you remember how depressed I was?

Do you remember when I finally realized what you have known all along? That it's going to be okay? That truly all we need is love - and we've already got that.

Do you remember? I do. And man am I glad I fell in love with you.