It’s a wonderful wife

I’ve probably talked about this before, but I don’t think I could ever talk about it enough. If my life is at all pleasant, enjoyable, and headed in the right direction, it’s because I have a wonderful wife. We’ve been through a lot in our twelve years together. We’re on our third house, my fourth job, our second dog, our first three cats, and our only three kids. We’ve handled rising and falling incomes, outlaws, car breakdowns, equipment breakdowns, falling trees, slumping economies, and close to three cumulative years of unemployment.

And she’s still here! The woman is clearly insane, but I try not to call her attention to that, lest she come to her senses.

 I’d say she’s been the one constant through it all, but that wouldn’t be true. She’s been changing, too. We both have. I look back at what we were like when we first got married and I realize how much we’ve changed. I’m also glad we’re not those people any more. Everything good we’ve accomplished together has not come without its struggles and cost, but it’s been worth it. And everything truly worthwhile has come from the two of us working together.

She’s a lady in the classical sense of the word. She has a style reminiscent of the Hepburns, Grace Kelly, or Ingrid Bergman. I wish I could hold up my end by being more like Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, or Gene Kelly, but the best I can do is more Groucho Marx, Bob Hope, or Peter Lorre.

She can do more with a dollar than just about anyone I know. I’ve seen people spend more to eat for a day than she does to feed five people for a week, yet it’s a rare day when we have only cold cereal for breakfast (I’m sure it’s happened, just can’t remember when–maybe when she was sick?) Our home is always tidy and welcoming, yet her decorating budget is pretty small.

She’s involved in the kids’ school, volunteers to help animals, and willingly accepts church assignments of all sizes. I doubt if there is anything she can’t sew, knit, cross-stitch, or grow. And she’s got a pretty good arm at baseball. (One of my favorite pictures of her is one I sneaked one time of her in a dress, a big floppy hat, and a baseball glove, fielding a throw from Walter).

She plays a mean game of Battleship, Mancala, and Mastermind. She can almost match me at movie quotes, and knows her way around a LEGO set. Name any item in the kitchen and she can tell you exactly where it is at any given time. She walks the kids to and from school every day and goes at least a mile with the dog every night.

And every saturday night she puts everything else aside to spend the evening with me.

I’m doing pretty well in just about every measure that matters. I’ve got a pretty good life, really. What’s my secret? It’s a wonderful wife!