Thread by @robbystarbuck

I want to talk about love. The past 5 yrs have been a wild ride. I set a dream job on fire, knowing it would be set ablaze by coming out as a Republican. I followed my heart because my wife @imatriarch was my biggest supporter. Tomorrow’s our 13th wedding anniversary. (THREAD)

I wish everyone had the unstoppable love & support she has given me. Whenever I wavered, she had the grace and wisdom to tell me I was doing the right thing. When the most vile threats or treatment were directed at her or our kids, she gave a fierce nod for me to charge forward.

I’m not sure what I did to deserve the love she’s given me as my wife for 13 yrs but I’ll always feel like the luckiest man to step foot on this earth. There’s not one time I’ve looked in her eyes and seen anything but the firmest belief that we would do the greatest things.

I feel led to to tell single people to think carefully about who they marry. Make sure you love them tremendously and that they love you tremendously too. Make sure they’ll fight for you even when you won’t fight for yourself. Make sure their voice ignites your fire.

Make sure you‘ll fight for them when they won’t fight for themselves. Make sure your voice ignites their fire. Make sure that when the hard times come, you can trust that you’ll feel their love the most and that they’ll feel yours. Be their fierce champion and they’ll be yours.

Make sure you challenge each other in a way no one else does, with a firm belief in the greatness that you both see in one another. Iron sharpens iron and a husband + wife sharpen each other. If you can’t imagine working with them and having fun, they aren’t "the one".

Men — Make your wife feel safe. Protect. Listen. Learn. Empower. Don’t fear their greatness and fall into the trap of thinking it will mean less time or love for you. Their greatness will become abundance for you both. Be her champion. Work to live up to her belief in you.

Women - Make sure your man does those things and in turn believe in them so relentlessly that they rise to the challenge of being their best self. Your warmth can and will make their day when the world is cold, encourage their best qualities and tell them why you love them.

Don’t ever stop having fun together. She still makes me laugh more than anyone. She always will. In fact she makes me laugh even more now because she knows me better than I know myself. Get to know every little thing about each other. Be each other’s greatest adventure.

Know what you want in a parent for your future kids. I knew what I wanted and still @imatriarch surpassed every single expectation I had built in my head about what a good parent is. Be an active parent with yours. It will come with challenges but so many laughs and love.

I love her more and feel more loved than I ever thought possible as a kid. If you come from a broken home where love wasn’t modeled, please know this is possible for you. You have to work, but you can do it and you’re worthy of it. It’s even better than you imagine. Work for it.

Marriage is work. You have to talk about everything. It’s not just magic. You‘ll disagree on things. Most are really silly when you think about them. Remember that in the moment and lead with love. It’s how you disagree that matters. It should lead to strength, not anger.

Lift each other up on your worst days. Be best friends. Pray together. Heal their doubts with positive affirmation and unending love. This is what @imatriarch has done for me. Marrying her is the single greatest thing I’ve ever done and her love allowed me to be my best self.

I wish you all the love I’ve been blessed with. I hope these words help one of you on that path. We’re on this adventure together and while endless crazy things will be thrown our way on this journey, I’m always sure of one thing: her love. I’ll always treasure it @imatriarch. ❤️

Love is real! If you believe in it, work to be the partner you want to find and then it will find you. Don’t give up and when you have it, never take it for granted.