For Ben

So, if you don’t want to read a sappy love entry…don’t continue. Seriously, you’ve been warned.

I’m incredibly thankful for my boyfriend, Ben. Our story begins a little differently than most – with him being a young and somewhat nervous lobbyist in Columbia and me being an older and overly confident House (of Reps) staffer. We were only friends back then, but it laid the groundwork for what would become our love story. (Is Taylor Swift singing in your head yet?)

Ben came into my life again at a dark time for me, and our roles had completely reversed. (Except for the young part, he’ll always be younger than me and he’ll never allow me to forget that.) My confidence level was non-existent, and I was certainly the nervous one. Nervous about my future, nervous about what other people thought, nervous about being single again…sounds completely attractive, huh? Well, that’s the thing about Ben. He knew all of that, and he wanted to love me anyway. And so he did.

I vividly remember typing a vent to him (thanks, gchat!) that went along the lines of, “I mean, who would want to date a 29-year-old divorcee?” His reply was quick and simple, and something he probably didn’t give a whole lot of thought to. He said, “I would.” Boy was he in for it.

If I wrote a list of everything I wanted in a partner, Ben would have everything on that list and then some. He’s caring, helpful, sweet, funny, loving, fun, intelligent, interesting, handsome, patient (let’s keep it real, he needs the patience when dealing with yours truly), and loves my family and my dog. I think I hit the jackpot.

It’s about damn time.