This guy. My heart, my soul, my family. I was completely broken-hearted this week, and my mom told me one thing that I’m going to cling to: your relatives might be blood, but ultimately, you get to choose your true family.

He is my biggest blessing. Sometimes he leaves me notes on the whiteboard on the fridge while I’m asleep, or tries to give me sweet cards while I’m in the bath after a bad day, or accompanies me to doctors’ appointments because he knows my past and how I get so much anxiety when I go to them.

Every night, even though Marlie lies between us so we can’t cuddle, he touches my feet with his feet. He says thank you when I cook him dinner. He doesn’t get upset when I’m too tired or overwhelmed or emotional to cook dinner or do anything besides lie on the couch and eventually fall asleep. He never tells me I’m not enough. He doesn’t tell me I’m pretty when I’m all dressed up nearly as much as he tells me I’m pretty when I’ve got yoga pants on, hair tied up, and no makeup on.

He spends hours fixing my car after buying a $35 part so that auto centers won’t over charge me. He loves my dog more than life, and my dog loves him back. He wants what I want in life. He supports me and encourages me.

There are real things that we have gone through and continue to go through in life: loss, heartbreak, disappointments, financial troubles, and all kinds of other tough things.

None of it matters, though. Today, I realized, more than ever, that this is my family. And I’m more than okay with that.

What God has joined together, let no man separate.