A Love Letter To Matt

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we asked Patch readers to write a love letter to that special someone and let us deliver it. This is Julianne Dowd’s letter to her husband, Matt:

Dear Matt,

We met in 1995 at our Alma Mater, Springfield College. I thought life was pretty easy then. We celebrated our 16 years of marriage this past June. We have three beautiful children: Meghan, 12, Liam, 9, and Brendan, 8. I often think this is all part of God’s plan because I could not imagine three blessings such as the likes of them. We have been blessed with amazing family and friends and rooting our family in my hometown of Shrewsbury seems very natural and right.

The one thing I can say about our relationship is that we are like an oil painting, with layers and layers of stories, some speakable and some not. I try not to look too far ahead because I don't want to miss a minute of today -- not because its all dandelions, but because I think we both knew from the start this was gonna be a bumpy, crazy ride.

I hope our future is filled with applauding our children's successes and comforting them through their losses. I hope our arguments over trivial things never end because it means we have less important worries. I hope we get to grow old and see our children's children. No one is forcing us to be together and yet we still are together. That’s something right? So here’s to us and to our vows, which seem more important in our 16th year than on our wedding day. I love you Matt I hope you know that. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Love,
Julie

See all Patch love letters here.

For next month's Love In A Small Town feature, we want to know: What place in town will always be a reminder of love for you? Whether it's the park where you had your first kiss or the restaurant where he proposed, email your story to locallove@patch.com for the chance to be featured. Get more details here.