That Special First Year of Being Together

My  husband and I have been together for almost six years now, and I still remember what it was like when we celebrated our first year of being together.  If you happen to not know our story, well, we technically didn't spend our first anniversary in person.  I was in the Philippines and he was here in the States.  But distance never stopped us from making that day an extra special one.  We spent time on the phone and we talked online while we were both on webcam.  I can't even remember how long we talked, but I'm pretty sure I went to bed way too late.

It wasn't the ideal first anniversary anybody would want to have, but at the time, that was all we could do.  He just got back from deployment and he had no time to take leave off work because he had so many things going on that needed to be taken care of right away.  But one thing, though, he never failed to send me gifts on our first anniversary.  He went online and sent me fresh flowers with chocolates and a pink stuffed teddy bear that were delivered to our house on the day of our anniversary.  Not only that.  He also sent me a box with lots of stuff, including a book series, Left Behind.  He bought me a diamond ring, too that came in a different package, among other things.

I'm not into material things.  I never asked any of the things he gave me.  For me, it's the thought that counts the most.  The thought that he went out of his way to make me feel very special on our anniversary, that's what matters most.  He truly proved that he didn't need to be with me in person at the time to make everything perfect.

As for me, I still wish I could've prepared any first anniversary with boyfriend gifts ahead of time.  I was so focused on doing school at the time, and on top of that, I really had no money to send him any gifts like what he did for me.  But, I still got him a card.  I poured my heart out to him on every single word I wrote.  I made sure it was the perfect first anniversary card for him.  And when he told me it was more than he could have asked for, I knew I did a great job.

All in all, it still turned out to be the perfect "online anniversary celebration".  We may haven't had the chance to do our first dance, or that sweet first kiss, but the experience and the memories we created in spite of the distance are something I'll never trade for anything else in the whole wide world.  It was and will always be the perfect first year for us!