I read the fourth chapter of the book 8 Dates out loud to Skyler early Sunday morning in bed. He was drifting in and out of sleep, and this was simultaneously making me chuckle and making me shake my head. It was lovely to sleep in together, to wake up and know that we didn’t have anywhere to be for several hours. We lazed in the glory of Sunday morning in our bedroom. We don’t get those dates all the time.

I came across a section of the chapter where it talked about how in a national survey, both in the 1950s and now, our views on love, work, marriage, family have changed radically. There’s one thing that hasn’t changed: Love, it seems, trumps work as the top priority of life, no matter what decade it is. This singular thought moved me to the point of tears. Skyler and I have been trying to manifest our futures, to see what beautiful things are up ahead for us. But I came to a realization with this little bit of text. It does not matter what is up ahead. It does not matter if I change my job, or our incomes change. None of this really matters, because we’ve already won life’s greatest prize: Love.

There is nothing I do better in this world than love Skyler King. Skyler has loved me so fully and completely that he’s made me love myself. There is no greater power than love. Love is the beginning, it is the end, it is everything.

Skyler: Where you lead, I will follow.