My Gilbert Blythe

Hopefully we are all familiar with Gilbert’s “carrot” introduction, insulting Anne’s hair and making the worst sort of first impressions but through the rest of the series Gilbert is nothing but loyal, patient, down-to-earth, humble, and supportive of Anne. He waits and waits for her, even after she turns down his proposal! It takes Anne forever to realize that while she was swept up in all of the romantic notions put in her head by all the novels she read, she never realized that love actually looked quite different and was there with her all the while. He loved her even when she was ridiculous and moody. He loved her for pursuing her dreams and made sacrifices for her (often without her realizing or noticing). He loved Anne because of her dreams, because of her silliness, because of her depth. He gave her the space she needed when she needed it, he understood her and ultimately when Anne realizes her love for him you cannot help but jump up and down on the couch because of course you are rooting for Gilbert and you realize all of his qualities that compliment Anne’s far before she does and you root for them not because he is the most romantic, charismatic, sparkling catch but because he can make her happy and she can make him happy.

All of this is to say that I am blessed with my very own Gilbert Blythe. I completely adore the man that I married. He is loyal, honest, compassionate, and loving. He is supportive and understanding and in the hardest of times these past months his love has reminded me again and again of how blessed I am. Our love story reminds me so much of Anne and Gilbert’s and then some because our love story will have far more pages and chapters and books.

How grateful I am for a loving partner who never ceases to try to make me laugh, who supports me in my all of my thoughts, ideas, and dreams, and who challenges me to consider five more sides to a story when we are already discussing ten. I love his consistency, his faith, his lack of fashion sense. I love that he is willing to learn, to explore, to do what is hard. I love that he can never sit still but compromises when I constantly crave to snuggle up and watch a movie (or three). He is inspiring to watch as a husband and father, he breaks so many of the unnecessary gender stereotypes and I am so proud of how our relationship has evolved from a summer camp romance to where we are today. We are a team, continuing communication as we grow and change individually and as a family, our strength lies in our ability to hear each other and to seek forgiveness when we don’t and try again.

He is my Gilbert Blythe and I discover over and over again each day how much I truly love him.