Himself

I met this man when I was nine or ten years old. I didn't really know him then; he was a long-haired red-head, a friend of my brother's, and living in a teepee. That's right, I said a teepee.

He moved away for a while, then I met him again when I was 14. He was a senior and I was a sophomore. We were both in band together and formed a friendship. One day I was walking across campus with him, and my brother came over and started messing up my hair. That's when we discovered we've known each other for a while.





One of the first things that attracted me to him was his sense of humor. I love to laugh! I also love to make this man laugh. Of course, this is difficult when I need him to take me seriously! We had to come up with a "code word" to stop the shenanigans when it was time to be serious. Serious and this guy don't go together well for long.



This is fine with me, since I like this face much, much better.



When he looks in the mirror, I'm sure he sees someone with less hair, graying beard, reading glasses, and some wrinkles.






When I look at him, however, all I can think is, "Wow, those eyes are really, really blue. How in the world did God come up with eyes so blue?






There's a counter at the top of my blog keeping track of the years we've been married. We started dating when I was 15, married when I was 19. We've sailed through our good times and have endured some bad times, but even through bad times we've had peace. When committed to a marriage and when divorce is not an option, bad times are a speed bump to get over and not the end of your world together. There's an indescribable hope that means, "Bad doesn't last forever, nor does it tear us apart. We'll get through this eventually, and we'll both be stronger for it."
Today, because of this man God gave to me, I am stronger. We are stronger. Yesterday was his birthday, and I wanted him to know that.


I love you, Mr. JLW.