countdown to our 9th anniversary

wow! it just dawned on me today that a few days from now, exactly 11 days that is, will be our 9th anniversary as a couple.
looking back, the nine years together has proven to a lot of people how a relationship can really, really work, and really be happy at the same time. i know, i know, a lot would say, but hey! you always get into arguments, you don't always agree, etc. etc. people will always raise their eyebrows and say, they're not the perfect couple.
and we are not. we are far from being a perfect couple. if someone would ask me now what lessons i've learned with my relationship with tabs, herein would be my answers:
1. That you can meet someone you will love so much more that yourself.
2. That fights aren't made to break you up, they are there to make you strong.
3. That breaking up is easy, but forgetting the person isn't
4. That love has no boundaries, no ifs, no buts.
5. Truth be told, you can be in a 9 year relationship and still be hopelessly in love with that one man.
I'd probably be able to say more. But these are the things i've really learned. like i said, ours was never a perfect relationship. we fought, and fought and fought. in our early years together (year 1 to 3) we fought too often, broke up often, and argued a whole lot more. those were the days when we were getting to know each other. it was probably easier then to break away, but for some unknown reason, we held on. yeah, we broke up, but not unlike what others did. some couples would break up for a week, a month, a few months, years even. we broke up for hours, days, and weekends. never longer than that. maybe because it was easy to forgive than to forget the person, or maybe there was not enough reason to do so.
so why have we held on too long, when some would just break up? i guess its because we both knew how much we loved each other. it was there, probably not from the start, but it grew in us. to the point when we knew that come wind and rain, come all the problems in our way, we'll stick with each other.
and yes, we are the best of friends. although i know we both have friends, whether in school or at work, ours is one of a kind. its the kind that you can say anything and everything about yourself, your feelings, your fears, without being judged. we can say what we mean when we're together, no need to pretend to say what we don't really mean.
i've always said that i consider tabs as God's gift to me. He was given to me to play a special role in my life. To tell me that someone loves me and that that love, when returned, can lead to such a beautiful relationship. More than 9 years ago, amidst the battle of my teenage years, after a frustrating "relationship" with a high school batchmate (i say its a "relationship" because it lasted for about a month, cool off for about two, and what would one define as a breakup after a few more months... at our age, that is considered a relationship). Anyway, after that somewhat confusing event, i prayed, i prayed to God that the next person to come along, let him be the one for me. i may not have seen it at first. but i'm sure when i finally did, that it was the right decision.
hay, reminiscing... i could go on and on raving about how much i love my future husband, but you'll probably be bored to death! hihi. will get to writing about our love story one day. hopefully soon. :-)