It began in the valley of the shadow of death, honestly. I was depressed, and had a small ‘bout of the suicides. I’d been kicked out of college. Then a ray of light came up to me at an event in Vermillion, SD where she was going to school. She was the dutch girl to my dutch boy. I realized that I’d started breathing again. She knew she was supposed to love me. And so we made love not only the goal, or the prize, but the value, the moral, hope, faith, and consistency.

I was born with Spina Bifida. Told I wouldn’t live. But I did. I walked. Then I met the girl who looks at life and doesn’t question our ability to do life with vigor. We are the constant story and memory we want to keep telling. We’ve lived big, mountains, bikes, motorcycles, adventure, business, beauty. But our favorite memory? The touch of her hand in the morning. The softness of her kiss. It’s that we’re still choosing each other, every day. It is how we “be the we.”

Make new memories. Go on more adventures. Continue date night Thursday, but do a fancy one from time to time. We’re responsible people, so we’ll put something into savings. It’s not about what we’ll “buy.” You can’t buy happiness. But $20,000 will be assembled into our version of it.