The cliches are numerous but that’s usually because they are true. If you are lucky enough to find the right person, fall in love, and get married, the next forever years are usually spent with the wife keeping the wheels on the tracks. This is what marital success looks like. To this end my wife is an unending list of superlatives. The word “saint” gets thrown around a lot. Mostly because it’s accurate. I’ll go with that.
Today marks 19 years of marriage for us and I’m grateful. While I know marriage is a give and take, I know I’m extremely difficult. Not “going to the hunting camp every weekend of fall” difficult, but more “lives in his own little world that intersects that of his family while he plummets through life, unaware of the world around him.” So I can be around, and be completely absent. Yet Jeanne endures.
We met in a bar at 1:30 a.m. in 1997 and were inseparable. I think I told her in the first week we would get married. We dated for nearly 4 years before that happened. There was none of the on again off again. No real fights ever. Mostly me needing to grow up. Which I am still reluctantly trying to do.
19 years later she’s still all the things. Beautiful, smart, funny. A wonderful mother. Everything.
She will hate this likely because as open as I am, she doesn’t need things like this. She tries to understand me and accepts it for what it is.
Every person is lucky to find the one they love and who loves them back. I count myself as that times a thousand.
One of my best friends, Bill’s anniversary is the day before mine. Over the weekend he and his wife celebrated and me seeing the pictures of them threw me into a panic and I had to take my wedding ring off to see what day it was. I mean a calendar could have cured it but, you know, I’m difficult. I texted him and told him not to do that shit again. I can only handle so much.
Milestones are things like round numbers. I don’t know that 20 will be more significant than 19. The last six months has been a reminder of how great I’ve got it and I have a pandemic to thank for that.
Thank you Jeanne. I’ll love you forever.
#hugsandhi5s
