I am not sure how Marten would react to my public expression of affection. But I will let him deal with it. Beautiful love stories should be told. I know that it would inspire 15-years-old me.
I wasn't invited to a romantic date before I turned 20. (Except for a "1-week-love story" at age 13 that left me heartbroken). The whole youth I was convinced that I was not good enough, not pretty enough, not skinny enough, not worthy enough. Like every other teen girl. My mom told me that I was too fierce and that boys were afraid of me, but I didn't believe her. Truth to be told, as a teenager I had a schedule of a CEO. I woke up at 5 to do my homework. Went straight to school. After school, there was always either music practice, art school lessons, dance classes, extracurricular English courses, preparation for school Olympiads, or some school event that needed to be organized. I came home often at 9 or 10 and went straight to bed. Well, retrospectively I think it was too much to expect a romantic comedy story to unveil. I simply had no time for that. I was busy becoming perfect.
But Marten liked me not because of my "perfect." He liked my smile, my character, my ideas, and thoughts - his words not mine. I was expecting a man to love me for my dancing skills, excellent academic path, and my carefully curated wardrobe. But he seemed not to care about those things. And to be honest, at the beginning I was not buying into that. I wasn't sure that he was the right choice for me. He wasn't driving a Porsche in his 20s, he wore quite unfashionable clothes, danced like a robot, and was living with his parents. I needed someone ambitious, someone, who would conquer the world with me.
But it was so good to be together. We could talk for hours discussing politics, science, religion, or music. We could laugh at gingerbreads. We could walk for hours and never get tired. It was so easy to be together. And he seemed to be so relaxed. I was so busy and focused on creating my perfect life while he was just taking one step at a time. It was captivating. He was so different from me, but at the same time, we had so much in common.
He liked Vivaldi, I liked Vivaldi.
He studied civil engineering, I studied civil engineering.
He loved chocolate cake, I loved chocolate cake.
After a year of hesitation, he convinced me. With his patience, intelligence, humor, and inner calm.
We took it slow. One step at a time. Even though Marten's milder pace made me also take a few breaths between rushing, I still held my standards. Before I committed I needed to know that he was the right man. And oh he was. He just needed some better clothes, dance lessons, and time.
Now it is our 5th wedding anniversary. We've been through the happiest as well as the darkest periods of our lives. We got the most amazing cat, changed careers, bought a home, moved to another country, and survived corona, twice. We are building our wonderful life, together. One step at a time.
So here it is to the best husband in the world. Would definitely marry again!
Foto: Villi Hunt