For My Wife, on Our Anniversary

1 Corinthians 13

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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This is for you, my sweet wife, on our first anniversary.
Thank you for loving me, for giving me something that I never thought I would ever have in my life.
You have brought to life feelings and emotions in me that lay dormant for so long.
Thank you for showing me your love, not by words, but by your smile, and by what you do.
Thank you for being open and giving and generous with your love, even when I don't feel so loving myself.
Thank you for being there with a smile, or a hug, or a kind word, when I needed it.
Thank you for this first year of our life.
I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you.

With all my Heart,
John