Listen up: Tracie P and I are going to be on today’s edition of Houston Matters (12 p.m. CST), a daily radio show produced by Houston Public Media FM 88.7. The show was inspired by my blog post, “You’re from Houston? I’m so sorry.”

Happy birthday, Tracie P!

It seems like yesterday that you were still Tracie B and I was trying to figure out what I should do with my life.

When I moved to Texas in 2008 to be with you, so many of my friends thought I was crazy. But following my heart was the smartest thing I’ve ever done.

Over the arc of our time together, more than seven years now, we have built a life and family and I have watched and admired you as an expectant and then nurturing and loving mother.

When I asked you to marry me via a song (below) in 2009, I was deeply in love with you and excited for our bright future. But I couldn’t have imagined the immense joy that you would bring into all of our lives.

This morning at 5 a.m., when Georgia P (soon to be four years old) woke us by climbing into bed and snuggling up beside you, I couldn’t help but think about how our lives have changed since that wonderfully and wondrously fateful day when you wished me a happy birthday on my blog seven years ago.

Your beauty electrifies me, your brilliance dazzles me, your motherly love astounds me.

I love you endlessly and I am boundlessly proud to be your partner and husband.

Happy birthday, Tracie P! I’m so glad you married me!