Remember that worst date ever? Well, today has the potential to be our second worst. I'm writing this early but when it is posted, it will be our 7th anniversary. But instead of doing something fun today, we will be waking up incredible early to drag Lucy to the hospital for her to undergo dental surgery. Nothing says "aren't you glad you married me?" like helping a three year old recover from dental surgery*.
Except, maybe it does. It's not very romantic, no, but we'll be there together. I didn't even have to ask you to take the morning off, you volunteered to take the whole day. You are such an amazing dad. Not just there for the big things like medical procedures and taking Lucy on date nights to the symphony like you did last night but all the small ones too. Like letting Lucy climb on you every night or reading her Pippi Longstocking even when she stops you ever 3 minutes to ask what Mr. Nielson is doing right now. And of course Jonah adores you. I don't always like that when I have to comfort him several times a day when the mailman rings the doorbell and it isn't "dada, dada?" or the wind blows the door and it still isn't "dada? dada?" but when 4:30 rolls around and it is you, seeing his face light up as he climbs down from wherever he manages to be and runs over to you makes it worth it. So if I have to be there pacing up and down the halls while she's under general anesthesia, I'm glad it will be with you.
But you're not just a good day. You're a pretty awesome husband too. Let's face it, I'm a bit of an odd duck but you don't roll your eyes at me when I sit down next to you on the couch, slide over and say "Hey, Craig, so I've got this idea..." Okay, maybe you do roll your eyes a bit but you still listen. And more often than not, you're on the same page. And if you don't understand all the way, you're willing to listen to me explain the weirdness or even just say "Okay, I don't get it but I trust you so go for it."
-I say "homebirth?" and you say, "Hmm, I wonder how I'll fill out the insurance paperwork for that".
- I say "no tv?" and you say, "Well, I'm going to have to bring it up again for presidential debates and the olympics".
I say "Chickens?" and you say, "What kind of coop should we build?"
I say "Korean drama about a 400 year old alien who falls in love with an actress while protecting her from being the next victim in a murderous chabeol's killing spree?" and you say "You're on your own, but I'll sit next to you and read a book about chickens while you watch."
It's not just that you say yes to me whenever I ask for something though, it's more that when we have grown and changed, we've done so - together. While some of our weirdness was pre-planned, a lot was not so when I think of how similar our visions for our lives have grown, I'm amazed. I guess God knew what he was doing.
Your willingness to listen also means I can trust you when you say "No." And I need your ying to my yang.. You'd like the thermostat set at 68. If it was up to me, it's be at 78. It's probably best for our health and budget at our compromise spot and that's true of a lot of things in our life.
You've learned not to ask what something is before you taste it because I'll insist you try it anyway and sometimes its better not to know. And if it's really bad, you help me make eggs and toast so we don't starve. You value the time and effort I put into feeding us healthy food and keeping the home up but when I text you in the afternoon because it has been one of "those days," you bring home that pizza and you even throw in a load of laundry.
I don't think I've ever met someone who works as hard as you. You work at being a provider for our family, yes, but you work more at helping me make our home and our community a place we want to be. And I'm glad to have been in the same place as you for these last 7 years. Here's hoping for many more!
*According to the official pamphlet about what to expect, it can take small children a while to "get over it" and as Lucy tends to have a bad case of the crankies when she wakes up early from a nap, I don't want to think about her waking up from general anesthesia to find an iv in her arm.
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