David

Throughout all of this, David has been my rock. It sounds trite or cliche, but I don't know what I would do without him. His strength, his irreverent sense of humor, his ability to make me laugh in the darkest of moments, his intelligence, his persistence - the list goes on and on. This is a man who carries me up the stairs when I collapse, but who is completely unafraid to call me on my bullshit. His family has welcomed me with open arms, and I feel so blessed to have all of them in my life.

David was working like mad and then driving every weekend to Bluffton to see me at my parents' house. He didn't have a minute for himself, and he rarely complained. He also spent countless hours on the phone tracking down doctors and second opinions and paperwork. (I'll write a separate post about this, but the health insurance system in our country is completely broken).

Our story is very unorthodox - best friends for 12 years, he was in my first wedding. Our first date was in May, we were engaged in September, and this all happened in October. Not ideal for a newly engaged couple, but it certainly means that we have a very good idea of who we are and how we each react to stressful situations.

Don't get me wrong - David is no saint. In fact, he's generally a bit of an cranky misanthrope. But he's my misanthrope and I adore him.