Dear Carter,

Sometimes, the best things in life aren't the ones that are obvious... they're the ones you find by accident, or that have always been right in front of you while you were too busy to really stop and notice. 

Daddy and I met at Canisius College when were only freshman -- we both lived in Frisch Hall. Daddy lived on the first floor, where I would sometimes go with my friends to visit Steve, who was introduced to our friend, Elaine, since he was from the same area she was from.  Mommy's roommates quickly became friends with Steve's roommates.  Mommy, in particular, spent a lot of time downstairs on the first floor visiting with Steve.  Occasionally, their friend Brian would come over to visit as well.  I didn't notice him then other than to think "wow, that guy is weird."  Soon enough during that first year, Mommy ended up dating Steve.  And Steve ended up being good friends with Brian.  While Mommy and Steve were on and off (and on and off, and on and off!) for three years, Brian and Steve remained friends, and Mommy saw more and more of Brian.

Mommy didn't like Brian.  He was mean, he said rude things, and he had some habits that Mommy didn't think were cool.  So I avoided him like the plague, but can you believe he kept showing up?!  Soon, he was Steve's roommate.  Then, he started dating my friend, Maggie.  No matter how hard I tried, I could barely escape him!  I only visited Steve on nights when Brian wouldn't be there, and I tried not to spend time with Maggie when I knew Brian would come over. 

But Maggie and Brian were a bad match, and soon they started to have troubles when Maggie showed a pretty strong interest in one of Brian's roommates.  Mommy was also friends with Brian's roommate, so on St. Patrick's day our senior year, we all went downtown to watch the parade and celebrate.  At the end of our day of celebrating, Mommy and Brian were the only two people awake.  So we were forced to hang out and to try and be friendly with each other.  We sat on Brian's bed and he played his guitar, while I willed myself to be friendly.  After a few minutes, Brian did something silly that I can't even remember.  He kicked Mommy, or something like that, and knocked me over.

In that moment, Mommy realized that Brian wasn't the horrible person she'd previously thought he was... and got really upset.  I got upset because I thought "Oh my goodness... Brian is everything I think I've ever wanted."  I knew in that instant that he would be perfect for me in so many ways, and that we would be such a good team.  I got upset because he was dating my friend Maggie, and I would never get a chance to get to know him better because of that.  So, I scraped Maggie off of the living room couch and dragged her all the way back home.  Then, I went and cried to Aunt Becky about it.

Turns out, Brian had felt the same thing.  A week or so later, Brian professed his love to me in a bar, only minutes after he'd broken up with Maggie. Then, a few days after that, while we were all getting ready to leave for Spring Break, Brian asked Mommy out to dinner.  Aunt Becky made me go, but I'm glad she did.  It was a long and somewhat twisted road, but we proved to be as fantastic a team as I'd imagined and more.

Four years ago today, Mommy married Brian.  And now, Brian is your daddy.  This has been the abbreviated version of our story, and someday I'll share all of the crazy details with you.  But for now, what I really want you to know is what I said at the beginning:  the best things in life are often those we overlook because we're so busy looking at or trying to get to something else.  And sometimes when we stop and really see what's right in front of us, we find exactly what we've always needed.

Happy 4th Anniversary, Brian.  You're the best daddy we could ever ask for, and my absolute soul mate.  You make us happy every single day. ♥