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This is the second installment of my tribute to my husband on our 12th wedding anniversary …
If I’d been doing much in the way of objective deliberation about anything during the amazingly romantic, gentle, passionate and intensely emotional early days of my time with Mark, my brain would have been pointing out that this twenty-six-year old island boy and I should have absolutely nothing in common, that there could be no sustained conversation between people from two such different worlds and backgrounds, and WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING?
Fortunately, when I left the States I’d given myself permission to take a year off from objective deliberation. Rational thought, compulsive planning and worries over outcomes were put on hold, and occupied about as much of my head as California State income tax forms. In other words, after years of making sure all bases were covered for everyone in my realm I was darned well going to enjoy a few months of ‘me’ time … and I was not going to beat myself up for it. After all, I’d started caring for my brothers when I was eleven, then my kids at seventeen, and I was just about to turn forty-two. It was my turn.
Lucky, lucky me. I met Mark just at the moment I was ready to find him, and a year later I married him. The conversation that started in 1993 continues unabated to this day. He is my best friend, the one who’s company I would always seek, the kindest and most honorable person I’ve ever known, tolerant of all that is me and gentle with my bruises, a magnificent lover, a skilled fixer-of -things-broken, a fiercely loyal comrade, generous with all he has and all he is, and a fantastic father.
With a fifteen year gap between my age and his, we didn’t plan on having kids, but as so often happens a path presented itself and we allowed ourselves to step onto it. Our foster son came into our lives, then out, setting the course for Cambodia and Sam and Cj.
When deliriously happy wives claim to have the best husband in the world, I will always smile and nod politely, even though I know with utter certainty that Mark is really and truly the best husband in the world. I did, after all go all the way around to find him.
Congratulations!
Sheesh, yet another thing we have in common. And, I thought MY husband was the best in the world! (Sorry to disagree, but I still do.) My husband is younger too, but, not nearly as much as yours!
Beautifully written, Sandra, as always. I think I’ll cut and paste it into an email (changing the specifics to fit of course) and send it to MY (also younger) husband. Smile. Happy Anniversary!
Wonderfully inspiring and romantic. I don’t think my husband is the best husband in the world, but then I don’t think I’d win awards for being the best wife in the world. We beat a lot of negative statistics by staying married (34 years) even though we were married at 18 & 19 years old. You could say we are just tenacious, but in reality, we are not just husband and wife, but best friends. And like a lot of best friends, we argue, make up, and can’t live without each other.
“Husbands” is a nice refreshing topic here! Thanks for bringing it up Sandra and congrats on the anniversary. Your husband is such a hottie!
Lisa