Hi everyone, welcome to thanks for being here. A short, weekly pod to remind us of the many

essential and beautiful ways we affect one another. Every Sunday, I'll read a submission

from a listener of Kelly Corrigan Wonders. Could be wedding vows or about mitzvah toast,

a eulogy or retirement speech. We believe this is the loveliest way to tap into our better selves.

And remember our highest values. We encourage you to share this podcast each week with one person

you love. Maybe someone you miss or need to bring closer. Someone you want to feel your appreciation

or admiration or both. This is thanks for being here.

This week's thanks for being here is from a woman named Shell Hurst and she says,

I wrote this for my husband on our 20th anniversary. I love these tributes each week. Thanks for

doing them. Here's mine. I was a mess at 19. I knew who I thought I wanted to be. I just didn't

have the discipline to get there. I did very few things wholeheartedly. I skipped class. I semi-committed.

I could never remember to take my clothes out of the wash and put them into the dryer before they

got that weird moldy smell. Okay, sometimes I still struggle with this. I drank too much. I

went to church sporadically. I worked out but then ate my weight in chips and salsa. I listened to

rap and country and Christian rock. I changed my hair color about as often as I changed my sheets.

I got tiny tattoos that I thought I could hide. I changed my major. I didn't make many good

decisions when I was 19, but I did make at least one. I said yes when a shaggy-haired guy who desperately

needed to shave asked me to a soccer game. He forgot to ask for my number or say how we get to

the soccer game but it was enough. From the beginning it felt different. Mostly I just tried not

to screw it up and I did a few times. We were both 19 and had no idea who we were. We thought we

were grownups but we were babies who were barely old enough to vote. Our hardest decisions then

were what to eat and whether or not to study or watch a movie. I knew he was home. That's the

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