14 Years

Fourteen years ago I married the love of my life. Right about the time that I am typing this, we exchanged our vows in front of God, family and friends. Some of you reading this know my husband, but many of you do not. So, I’m going to give you 14 reasons why you should know Jason (or know him better if you fall in the first group mentioned).

1. His kindness – I’m really not sure if Jason has a malicious bone in his body. Not even his tiny little ear bone. I try to be a kind person, but every once in awhile (it seems to be about once a month) I turn into an entirely different person. I still try to be kind, but when that happens I don’t seem to be in full control of my personality. I think some sort of possession actually occurs. But not Jason. He is always genuinely kind to every person he encounters.
2. His humor – He can make me laugh with a single look/sound/word/etc… His humor is so amazing that there are times when I don’t even know he’s joking. It’s a gift, really.
3. His dancing – You probably didn’t know that my inspiration for Marcus was my husband. I mean, my man can move. His aptitude for drunken chaotic wedding dancing is unparalleled. I try my best to keep up, but he usually dances circles around me.
4. He’s a human calculator – Really. No kidding. Our daughter loves to test him. This is the way she describes it: “I give Mommy a math problem and it’s ‘think… think… think… think… think… answer’ but I give Daddy a math problem and it’s ‘thi—answer.’”
5. He’s a great dad – if you read my Father’s Day post then you’d know just how great he is at being a dad to our daughter.
6. He’s supportive – When we started talking about me taking a leave from work, he wasn’t sure about it. Things that are undefined make him uncomfortable. An indefinite amount of time with me out of the workforce—definitely outside of his comfort zone. But he listened to my reasons and agreed it was best for our family. He’s supported me through the transition, and then in the unexpected path to write books. He even reads my books! This is a huge demonstration of his support—he doesn’t read fiction novels all that often. I think the last one was probably a Stephen King novel more than 10 years ago.
7. His humor (again, because it’s just so awesome) – He addresses the envelopes of the cards he gives me with some sort of unique, funny name. I love it. It makes my heart smile every time.
8. He lets me pick out the curtains – I know what you’re thinking, “What’s the big deal there? Doesn’t every husband?” Well, maybe. I can’t speak for every husband out there, but Jason gives me control of the curtains and this is a big deal. It’s partially because he doesn’t give a flip about the decorating, but it’s mostly because he trusts me. He doesn’t make me justify home purchases or quiz me to see if there were cheaper options out there or challenge me on if we really needed them at all in the first place. He just confirms that he likes them and then asks me where they need to be hung. Now, I wish the same could be said about the items in my craft room…
9. He’s flawed – Yes, that’s right, he’s flawed. He’s not perfect, and he knows it. This is important because if he walked around as Mr. All the Time Perfect then my flaws would make me feel like less of a person. But together we can be flawed and that makes us perfect for each other.
10. He’s not judgmental – You might think this was obvious given #1 listed above, but I’ve met some kind people that were also very judgmental. Jason does not judge. He may not always understand certain things people do, but he doesn’t hold it against them.
11. He breaks for squirrels – Yep, that makes him a keeper for sure. Anyone who can treat the tiny little creatures of this world with respect is the best of the best.
12. He makes me change my oil – Let’s face it, there are still things in this world that we like to label as a husband’s responsibility or a wife’s responsibility. Usually (I know not in all cases so don’t get all ‘girl power’ on me) the husband takes care of the vehicles. But Jason makes me take care of my own car. Sure, there are times when I think, “Why can’t he do it? Isn’t that what husbands are supposed to do?” But then I’m reminded that it’s good to know I can do these things (because it’s more than just the oil in my car) on my own. That I’m not dependant on him 100% to function in life. He makes me accountable and that makes me stronger. At least he’s OK with me taking my car to the shop to change the oil rather than making me climb under there and do it myself 🙂
13. He’s patient – He puts up with all my neurotic tendencies, which can sometimes be a lot. Here’s an example I love from a few weeks before our wedding. My wedding dress had come in and of course I had to go and put it on. What happened? Every bride’s worst nightmare—it wouldn’t zip up all the way. I cried. It was the crazy girl kind of crying. I was mostly upset because I couldn’t get it to zip up around my rib cage area. How in the world could I lose weight there?? I felt I had no options and I was hysterical. Jason listened to my rants, comforted me with a hug, and then calmly said, “Well, we’ll just go in next week and see if they can take out some of your ribs.” See, there’s that humor again! (FYI – I got it to fit by the wedding, without surgically removing any ribs!)
14. He’s simply the most wonderful man ever created – Yep, that about sums it up.

Happy anniversary to my most amazing husband! I can’t wait for the next 14 years…