Number Six...Pick Up Sticks...Happy Birthday!
I Love You So...

by Marianne Richmond

"I love you." "How much?" "SO much." "How much is 'so'?"

"WAY, WAY MORE than you know..."

I love you as BRILLIANT as each sparkling star,

and as WAY OUT as space, I love you THAT far.

"That IS a lot," you say, "but HOW did it start?

WHERE did love come from to be in your heart?"

YOU put it there, really, when you and I met.

And I know for certain WITHOUT you I'd fret.

From MY HEAD to my TOES, I was feeling inside

a devotion for you SO DEEP and SO WIDE.

And now it's ENORMOUS and wonderfully real

and hard to describe HOW MUCH I feel!

I love you as AWESOME as a thundery sky,

and as SOARING as mountains, I love you THAT high!

I love you as SILLY as a puppy dog's kiss,

and as QUIET as midnight, I love you like THIS.

"Do you love me EVERY day?" you ask with doubting awe,

"or does love go UP 'N DOWN like a teetering see-saw?"

I love you as STEADY as the earth rounds the sun,

though SOME days of life are the FARTHEST from fun.

"Like when you feel MAD?" you ask with distress,

"'cause I've BROKEN the rules or made a BIG mess?

Or, when I'm UNKIND, and your feelings are BLUE,

do you love me ALTHOUGH I do what I do?"

I love you being NICE, and when you're CRANKY, too.

I love you without liking the NAUGHTY things you do.

My 'love you' DOESN'T change like the temper of the days.

It's a CERTAIN kind of thing in many DIFFERENT ways.

You're my SWEETIE, my dear, my SMILE and laughter.

You're my PLAYMATE for always, and my JOY ever after.

Hanging out WITH YOU is where I want to be...

eating ice cream sundaes or watching the TV.

Under your umbrella, behind you on a bike.

BY you and BESIDE you is what I REALLY like.

"Even when I'm SICK...and I can't get out of bed?

Do you love me better HEALTHY than with fever in my head?"

I love you sick or able. You're ALWAYS you to me,

the ONE I LOVE forevermore. Undeniably.

I CAN'T IMAGINE life before you came along...

me there singing senseless, no MEANING to my song.

Call it MEANT TO BE or simply blessed fate,

you fill my heart WITH LOVE...and for THAT I celebrate.

Happy Birthday Molly!

We are so thankful for you and look forward

to God's big plans for you!

"I will instruct you teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you and watch over you."

Psalm 32:8

(Thank You Shannon for giving me this idea.  It is one of Molly's favorite books.)