16 years ago

16 years ago today, I married this guy:


(The curly-haired girl showed up a lot later.)

We've been together 21 years. During our many years together, he:
  • Has watched me lose and gain hundreds of pounds. Wisely, he says nary a word about my weight. 
  • Tells me "you look nice today" twice a year like clockwork. He doesn't want me getting too cocky - you know how it is.
  • Lets me listen to my music as loud as I want.
  • Never complains about my cooking, even that one time during the early years when I attempted that one recipe that resulted in grey potatoes.
  • Has busted me repeatedly for my failure to refill the ice cube trays. But, you see . . . he's so good at it!
  • Has proven to be a wonderful, wonderful father. 
  • Has proven to be a terrible homeowner. I almost think a random stranger at the grocery store would be more alarmed about the condition of our lawn (and everything else inside and outside our home) than my husband is.
  • Has gone completely grey but maintains that he has some brown hairs left in there somewhere. Okay, Sweetie! To me he is still the handsome 20-year-old Marine I met all those years ago.
  • Has let his nerd flag fly. He reads comic books and doesn't care who knows it. 
  • Refuses to argue with me no matter how hard I try to pick a fight with him. 
  • Has proven that he doesn't know where we keep anything and doesn't absorb much of what I say, but still somehow knows all my favorite things. 
  • Always kisses me good-night. 
Happy Anniversary to my one and only! 

Comments

Sarah said…
That's adorable Claudia! Happy Anniversary!!!!
May 24, 2013 at 8:53 AM
The Lovely One said…
So sweet! my husband is a grey haired nerd too, but I love him!
May 25, 2013 at 11:07 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's been a minute, but let's talk about my b*o*o*b*s

Image
I'm in the sixth grade. I'm sitting on the floor at my friend Sharon's house. Rachel is there, too. My well-meaning friends turn to me and gently let me know that I "really don't need to bother wearing a bra." They aren't wrong. I'm wearing one, but the situation doesn't particularly warrant it.  Two years later, I found myself sporting a C cup. My mom, a talented seamstress, made me a dress at about that time. It was a slim-fitting column dress with a matching jacket, as I recall. The white fabric had large polka dots; we jokingly called it the Wonder Bread dress. My mom took my measurements. 36-24-36 At some point in history, those numbers were considered "perfect measurements" for a woman. This was 1984; I'd like to think the world as a whole is less concerned about such things these days. I'm confident my daughter has no earthly idea what her measurements are. She just knows she's cute.  Growing up with a fun array of medi...
Read more

On Being Patriotic

The list of adjectives I assign to myself is pretty long: clumsy, organized, competent, uptight, etc. One that might surprise you: patriotic. I fully understand what it means to be an American and am darned happy about living here. But, I have a beef (that part won't surprise you). I've grown tired of certain segments of the population thinking that they've cornered the market on patriotism or that they can dictate precisely how the rest of us express ourselves when it comes to our shared country and flag. Sometimes it seems like the Toby-Keith-boot-in-yer-ass brand of patriotism drowns out the rest of us. For the record, I don't believe that patriotism requires a love of NASCAR, a disdain for immigrants, a Republican voting record, or a preference for country music. Nor does it require adherence to a specific religion. I've seen Facebook posts from some of my friends and acquaintances that call for all of us to return to the "Christian principles on which ...
Read more

14 Weeks

Image
My baby is leaving me in 14 weeks.  She and I started touring colleges in May of 2022. When I applied to colleges back in 1988, I was an English major so there were no auditions. Colleges basically just said, "Sounds good. Come on in." I was the first person in my immediate family to go to college and as a whole, I don't think we understood the importance of campus visits and such. I ended up being fairly miserable that first year until I transferred to a school closer to home. For my daughter, I wanted to make sure she had an opportunity to see lots of college campuses so that she had the best shot at figuring out what she wants out of the college experience. I wanted her to look at elements like campus size and location, diversity, activities, distance from home, and distance from the nearest "big city" (since performers often head to larger cities with active theatre scenes after college).  Last summer, we began the daunting process known as "getting int...
Read more