No matter how many birthdays come and go, my wife will always be younger than me. I am not sure if it is appropriate to share, but my wife turns 40 something today…and I am truly grateful for the many birthdays we have spent together.
I always get teased or poked at for how open I am in my relationship with my wife and that I share too much about our life together. I get mushy and emotional very easy. I am who I am, I don’t hide anything and It really doesn’t bother me one bit… as they say now a days “let the haters hate!” 🙂
Even after being together for over 20 years, married for over 18, raising two very different children, a few career changes (at least for me…and soon for Becky)…our financial and parenting ups and downs and moving from California to an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (that’s over 3,000 miles away) I’m still madly in love with my wife. It’s not the type of love where you just say the words; but a love that truly affects the way I live my life. A love that affects the decisions I make on a daily basis.
However, I don’t want people to get the impression that we are the perfect couple (even though we sort of are…). Our marriage isn’t perfect and we don’t always see eye-to-eye. We sometimes agree to disagree…let it go and move on. We don’t go to bed angry (at least I don’t think so!) and I sometimes act like an 8 year old….just to get her attention. We are honest with each other…and tell each other our thoughts whether positive, negative….or confrontational.
I am told that we are a lot alike, and that is true in some cases….but in others we are completely different. I will sleep in boxer shorts (or my birthday suit), a sheet, windows open and ceiling fan on where Becky will be in long pajama pants, socks, blanket, comforter, heating pad and a scarf. Okay…no scarf…but it seems like it. I like to clean as I cook and she likes to have the kitchen look like we were just hit by a hurricane. I like to have vegetables as a side…Becky has vegetables as the main course. (I know she is trying to get her family health…and I do truly appreciate this. I am doing my best!)
It is these differences that add the planks to our foundation. Even though some of the planks may creak and bend at times, they’re not at risk of coming apart because they are joined together by the strongest force I know – our love, our trust and my amazing sense of humor!
So…here I go. I am going to write something where in the next few days…I will be again be teased and picked on! But…that’s okay with me.
After spending almost more than half of my life with Becky, I know there are thousands of reasons that I love her. Because it is her 46th birthday, I was going to list 46 reason that I love her….but because she continues to walk in on me as I am writing this I need to make it short. Here are a few reasons I would like to share with her on her Birthday!
- I love my wife because she inspires me to change for the better
- I love my wife because she talked me into moving to this small 21 square mile island!
- I love my wife because when she thought I got her a new toilet seat for her birthday and she truly thanked me (you should have seen the one it replaced…yuck!)
- I love my wife because she shares her love for me by randomly leaving shoes in areas around the house, so I can trip on them
- I love my wife because she doesn’t get upset at me when I am her photography assistant, and she catches me at the bar having a Black n Coke with the groomsmen
- I love my wife because in her pursuit to be more mindful of what she puts in her body, she is learning to become a better cook (don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t a bad cook…she is just improving with age!) and the family benefits
- I love my wife because she has accepted that I talk to tourist, all of them…
- I love my wife because she knows that being a mother is a work in progress, and I pray she will never give up
- I love my wife because she is committed to improving the lives of others
- I love my wife because she puts the toothpaste away after I leave it on the sink for her
- I love my wife because of how she smells
- I love my wife because she gave me a second chance years ago when I was afraid to commit (50 dozens flowers and a hand written poem later!)
- I love my wife because she is one of my best friends and supporters
- I love my wife because she knows how to love others
- I love my wife because she always has my back
- I love my wife because she is a kick-ass photographer that thankfully has taken more photos of our kids than I every had of me as a child
- I love my wife because I can talk her into binge watching a show that I like and she ends up getting hooked on it herself
- I love my wife because she is helping me tick off one of my bucket list items, dual citizenship (coming soon)
- I love my wife because she allows me to be me
- I love my wife because she “thinks” I’m a wonderful parent, partner and man
- I love my wife because she uses our dirty laundry basket to stack her clean laundry…hmmmm go figure
- I love my wife because when she gives me that cheesy wink (yes, sometimes she winks) at which time I know it is time to head to the bedroom and lock the door (with her of course)
- I love my wife because she never quits on herself, or on us. I think she wants to sometimes, but she has the strength to continue on
- I love my wife because she is a little challenged with her electronics, and needs my help…most of the time
- I love my wife because she talked me into moving to this small 21 square mile island! (Have I mentioned this one yet?)
- I love my wife because she’s not perfect, but she is perfectly Becky and I could not ask for more.
A very, very Happy Birthday to you today… I hope you use your new birthday gift (not the toilet seat) to continue moving forward with “A Girlfriend’s Guide to the Universe”
Hopefully this blog point gets me some browny points, wink, wink!
