I remember vividly the first time I saw my husband.

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday. This is him pictured here. Of all the men alive, he is my favorite.

I still remember vividly the first time I saw him. We were at a party and I was sitting on a blanket in the grass when a Frisbee flew onto it. Jason walked over to get his errant Frisbee and someone who happened to be standing next to us and said, “Do you two know each other?” It sounds rather like a movie set up doesn’t it? Sometimes I’ve thought that if I ever decide to write a romantic comedy script I could just use true events from my life. Some of them people wouldn’t even believe were real! Anyway, I digress.

So the person (I can’t even remember who it was,) introduced us. We shook hands or something and he walked away. I remember it clearly because I watched him walk away and return to his game. Then I watched him play. I didn’t have even the most remote thought of dating him at the time, I just didn’t want to remove my eyes from him.

I remember literally thinking, “That man is so sunny.” He had the brightest happy glow about him that I had ever seen. It made me happy just watching him. I just sat there on my blanket, enjoying the warmth of the summer evening and the energy of that lovely glowing man playing Frisbee—for a while.

We didn’t speak again that evening. My husband doesn’t even remember it. But I can still see it clearly in my mind’s eye.

It honestly may have been another year before I ran into him again. I would have to think hard to remember the timing of that. And then another year after that before we started dating.

Now I sleep in the same bed with him every night. And I wake up every morning to his smile, his shaggy-ness, and his still ever-present glow. Most days I actually think about how grateful I am for him. (Truly.) But yesterday, on his birthday, I thought about how glad I am that he’s alive and how truly privileged I feel to share my life the ever radiant, always authentic, fantastically unique Jason Culp.