I lied to my wife for 40 years about my height

When I met my wife, I was a skinny young man with a very big crush. She was a petite woman who was even shorter than me, but I felt a little self-conscious, so I told her I was 5'10.5" when I was actually 5'9.5". We had a great romance, she was my dream. We got married. Over the years, I was always kidding her about her lack of height. She would ask me to get her things off of high shelves. She had to use a stool to reach high things in the kitchen. I would tease her and remind her how small she was. She would remind me how big I was. I loved it, although I would never admit it. I felt like a giant next to her.<br><br>Well, as I got older, I started shrinking. I am now 5'9". She called me over to look at something on the internet. She handed me her phone and I compared the box she was considering with her hand. She said, "you are the perfect height because your hand is exactly at the top of your head". I said, "yes, I am exactly 5'9, the perfect height." She was confused. She said, "No, you are 5'10.5". I laughed. I confessed everything. I told her that I had lied about my height 40 years ago because I was self conscious about being short. I told her I was actually 5'9. She was surprised, shocked I had never told her, but also thought it was hilarious. She said it made sense, because she had to stand on tip-toe to kiss me. <br><br>Well, now she teases me about being short. She says that she is glad that I am short, because she would never have married a tall man. I am okay with being short. I love her and am happy.<br><br>Edit: I should have added that when I was young, I thought my height was short. I now know that it is average. I did not mean to imply that short is bad, or that tall is bad. I was a young man with a huge crush, and was self-conscious about my height. I am now an old man with the same huge crush, and I am still self-conscious.