"If you ask me why I've changed, all I've got to do is say your name"

Came across this in my internet travels, and it really made me stop and think.

 

Source

When Liam and I first met, he was a big drinker, a smoker, and a potty-mouth swearer.  A lot of things about his lifestyle just did not fit in with mine, but somehow we connected and there was something special evident from our very first date.

We went out for dinner, but ate sooo slowly because we were too busy talking and laughing.  The waiters thought we were insane, but gladly accepted our gifts of awesome superhero band-aids (it's a long story!) which we had strewn all over the table. It wasn't until we realised that they were starting to stack everything up that we finally dragged our butts off the bench seats.  Even though it was late (on a school night, no less!), we wandered around for a while and spent some time in the video arcade. 

My very first photo of him - taken sneakily behind his back! :) 

On the drive home I realised I didn't want the night to end just there, so I sat there trying to formulate a way to ask him if he'd like to come in and hang out some more... as he pulled up to my house, I heard myself blurt out "want to come in and like... watch some DVDs or something?"

Smooth Cat, reeeeeal smooth!

 

Not long after we started dating, he came to meet me after a night out with the girls - cigarette in hand. I hate the smell of smoke so refused to kiss him hello and made him wait til the smell had disappeared before I would give even him a hug. (Bitch, yes! Mind you, I may have been ever so slightly intoxicated!) That is the very last cigarette I have ever seen him smoke.

The first time I met his friends, I heard an expletive escape his lips. The look of distaste on my face was obvious, and after couple of minor slip ups, that word is no longer in his vocabulary.

I can't even begin to count the ways in which he has tried to change for me.  
He now does not drink during the week nights, and instead we share a few beverages over the weekend.  
He has completely revamped his diet because the amount of junk food he used to consume alarmed me.  
He has joined me in my quest at the gym to be fitter, and now motivates me when I don't have the energy.

To start with, these changes were slightly hard to accept for me.  I did not want to change him, and I did not want him to feel he had to give up things for me.  I believe that you have to accept a person for who they are and make the choice to be with them based on that.  However he has put things into perspective for me.  His desire to change is because he wants to be a better person for me, he wants to better himself, and he wants to be the person that I know he can be.

I love him so very much for this, amongst the many other reasons. 

Sometimes the things he does can irritate me, and all I can think of is why can't he do things the way I ask? But I forget how much he has already done to make me happy. I know I need to remember this more, and be more forgiving and lenient when it comes to the little things.  I know I can be impossible and difficult to be with, but despite all this he puts up with me. I am stubborn, and I have not made the same concessions for him but still he loves me with all his heart.

We are two very different people, but in the end I know he would do whatever it takes to see me smile. 

I think I'm onto a winner :)