I consider myself to be a very lucky man.
I met my wife over ten years ago, and the connection was there from the beginning. The term 'soul mate' doesn't even begin to describe it.
Friends at first, more later on, and today, we are happily married.
I've had enough 'long-term' relationships (including an engagement at one point) over the years to know good from bad from great. And like most people, I've had a mix of all of it through-out my life (I'm about to be 40).
My relationship with my wife is literally as perfect as I can imagine any relationship being. Be it chores, or work (we actually run a business together), it feels like we are always on the same page. Our mindset on most things is the same, and when/where we differ, I feel like we fill in deficiencies for the other (she is not as good with conflict as me, I am not as tactful as her, etc...)
Between our house, cat, job, and a ten year old, I literally have about five hours a week to myself. The rest is spent in close proximity to my wife. I could never imagine this sort of dynamic working with a previous relationship, but then again, I realize now that that's because my current relationship is incredibly rare.
I often wonder what if it had been like if we had met in high-school. Like, would we have hit it off? Sure. Would we still be together? Probably. But I truly think that, while it would have been nice to have met her earlier in life, the perspective we both had meeting in our late 20's allowed us to properly value our connection.
I normally don't respond with such long-winded posts, but I was getting some tests done at a hospital yesterday, and I had a ton of time to play on my phone. I saw this thread, and while this anonymous post is far from a public declaration of love, I felt compelled to write it just the same.
I mean, seriously: the woman got up at 6 a.m. with me, drove me to the hospital. Sat and waited for nearly nine hours while I had 6 appointments, then drove me to work. We pulled back in the driveway at 10 p.m., had a snack and watched some HBO and laughed our asses off; and the only thing I kept thinking to myself was: 'man, this is the life'
TL;DR - I am lucky guy, and I adore my wife.