A Love Letter To My New Husband

Dear Edwin,

Happy almost one week of marriage (tomorrow!)! This past week has without a doubt been the best week of my life. Sharing my love for you with all our family and friends has brought me so much joy and, quite literally, brought tears to my eyes. You have touched my life in every way possible thus far. I can’t wait to see all the ways you will continue to change my life for the better.

Today, we’re settling into our new life together. We’re back home in Charleston from our mini-moon at The Cloister on Sea Island, GA. Our wedding day was my favorite day in the history of all the days in the world but our time alone together the past few days has given me memories that I will treasure equally until the end of time. The sense of togetherness I feel with you makes me feel so supported and full of life. Every time I turn a corner and spot you or every time I open my eyes in the morning and see you before I see anything else (perhaps my favorite part of being married!), I am overwhelmed with love, joy, excitement, and peace. I feel at home with you and I can’t wait to grow our home more (stay tuned for an announcement later this month!).

You might have noticed that in my Instagram yesterday, I shared a snippet of the lyrics from our first dance song. To me, “That’s How Strong My Love Is” by Otis Redding was such an obvious choice for us. I look at you and I feel those lyrics to be true. I can’t wait to sing (in my terrible voice) this song with you forever, to play it for our children, and to pass it on to our grandkiddos. “I’ll be the breeze after the storm is gone to dry your eyes and love you warm…”

In the week leading up to our wedding, my dad and I spent the best afternoon together. I cried when he shared that he’s so happy I’ve found someone who loves me the way he loves my mom. To me, this was just about the greatest thing I’ve ever heard. I hadn’t thought about our love in terms of my parents but he is right. We both have the best parents who have given us wonderful examples to live by! Writing this now, I’m crying again…

We are most certainly living in a dream reality right now. I tell everyone that I’ve been on cloud nine since our wedding and I have no intention of coming down anytime soon. In reality, I know the feelings of true and utter bliss that I feel with you right now will change, evolve, and grow in the future. I know that it won’t always be perfect and that we will struggle really, really hard because that’s life. But I know that through it all, I have you and you have me.

We saw my mom right after we got home from our mini-moon. She had a huge smile on her face when we walked through the door and she asked us, “how are you?”. I responded by exclaiming, “we’re married!” because that’s what I feel sums up all my feelings right now. Cheers to being husband and wife! I can’t wait to spend all my days with you.

Your wife always and forever,
Jillian

Photograph: Virgil Bunao (p.s. I literally can’t bare the idea of waiting months for the rest of our photos & video!)

P.S. so sorry for my absence this week… I’ve been enjoying our mini moon! I’ll be back to regular posting next week. Thanks for reading R&R! xx