I sat here trying to figure out what it was
that brought Lexi and Mark together.
Whatever it was, I think God was
watching them and thought it was time
to see that their roads intersected
even if it was at the Tin Roof,
which you guys is a local watering hole
not far from here.
That's where their fates were waiting for them
and their future began.
I've said it before and I'll say it
again everyday if I have to.
I'm so in love with how you think and how you feel.
I started taking notes about everything
you said to me the night I met you.
'Cause I didn't want to miss anything you had to say.
Mark and I met at a very classy bar
in downtown Indianapolis called Tin Roof.
Abby had gone to high school with Mark
and was like, "Oh, I went to high school
"with these guys, you should go talk to them.
"I'll introduce you."
Hadn't seen Abby in years but she
walked in with a couple girls, including Lexi and
I was like oh, who's this girl?
Him and I just started talking and
we really hit it off.
Not a big talk to a girl at a bar guy,
but quickly we started talking
about real things, her job and her family.
We talked for over an hour.
I realized a lot of my girl friends had left,
so I was like, I'm definitely not
staying here with this guy I don't know
and I just, I just left the bar, I didn't even tell him.
So the next day found Lexi on Instagram
on Abby's latest post, then she friended
me on Facebook and I sent her a
Facebook message two days later
asking her out.
And we had our first date like two weeks later.
And the rest is history pretty much.
I'm so lucky to call you my wife
for the rest of my life.
I promise to remind you how much
joy and strength you bring to me everyday.
I promise to always give you the
window seat on an airplane.
I promise to always to sleep on
the side of the bed closest to
the door to protect you.
I promise to challenge you, support you,
and be your partner in life until the day I die.
I vow to always remind you of
your resourcefulness, intelligence, goodness,
silliness and loving nature everyday
in all of our small ways we express our love.
No matter where our life together takes us,
I vow I will never be too busy
to be in our happy place, cuddling
on the couch in our home, inevitably
watching something the other got to choose.
Your ability to be sincere, witty,
compassionate, sarcastic, confident,
and humble while supporting me and
challenging me at all times,
makes you the perfect person for me.
You truly make me a version
of myself
that I didn't think I was capable of.
Father and daughter relationships are very unique.
And the experience of raising and observing
a little girl grow and mature to
a successful, confident woman is absolutely transcending.
Gale and I were blessed with Lexi.
We were dealt perfection.
Leadership is one of Lexi's strongest traits.
Loyalty, talent, I could go on and on.
Her dedication, her professional achievements,
Lexi's great appreciation for family
and integrity.
My daughter's integrity showed when
she was like four, five years old,
she put herself in time out.
I'd come home and my daughter
would be in the stairwell.
"Gale, what's Lexi doing in the stairs?"
"I don't know, she put herself in timeout."
"Why?"
"She thinks she deserves it."
Okay.
I'm gonna cry.
Lexi is my older cousin, but
I like to think of her as the
big sister that I never had.
Look at you.
Look at you, I like this shirt.
I know I was working on the,
the lines.
You look so good.
Look at you, you look like an angel.
When Lexi and Mark first moved to California,
I stayed with them during my spring break.
And I loved every new thing that
I learned about him that week.
I was even jokingly calling him Dad
because he had such a compassionate,
encouraging and kind-hearted thing about him.
When I look at Mark and Lexi together
all I can think is how lucky any
of us would be to experience the kind
of love that they have.
That is genuine, unconditional, and honest.
I've read in one of my favorite books
a theory that love is a state in
which to be in with someone else
and maybe that's why they call it in love.
How intimate it is to be in that space
and to be vulnerable in front of another person.
You are that person for me and
I cherish those moments without any
interrupting thoughts or events
that we are in that state of love.
I vow to you to keep that alive in our relationship.
To take those moments to be together
when the business of each day gets to us.
I feel so blessed to be yours.
I truly feel as though our souls were destined to meet.
We always thought that Mark's partner
would be somebody that kind of leveled him out.
Maybe watered him down a little bit
brought him back to center.
So when Mark called us, up moving to Chicago
and he was like, "Hey I want you
"to come to dinner with us, I want you to meet Lexi."
We were super intrigued.
Dinner started out like every dinner with Mark.
He was just telling story, after story, after story.
And he gets to this story that
he no longer would eat any store bought
peanut butters, butters, or spreads.
But rather that he would go to the store
and buy the nuts himself, bring 'em home,
crush 'em up, make his own spread.
Like a crazy person would do.
Then I see Lexi about ready to
like pipe up and I'm like, "Here we go."
She's gonna change the subject,
water him down, maybe talk about the weather,
something like that.
I was dead wrong.
She jumped in head first talking
about how amazing these homemade nut butters were.
That Mark should talk to the grocery stores
about selling them in the grocery stores.
They even actually woke up next morning,
went to the grocery store by our house,
made the nut butter, left it in
our fridge as a gift?
For having them over.
I've never tried that nut butter.
Three,
two,
one,
Your unwavering confidence in our relationship
has given me the confidence to dream without limits.
Where will we travel to next?
Where will we live?
As long as I'm with you, I will be overjoyed.
Lexi, you truly are the perfect match for Mark.
You don't try to change him, you
don't water him down, you're determined,
you're animated and you're just
as fearless as he is.
You are completely your own person
and you amplify the best traits that Mark has.
Unlike what we assumed, you are not
the yin to his yang.
But more like the co-pilot on whatever
wild adventure you two are taking next.