I
saw him across the room. He and I had talked before although not much
more beyond pleasantries. He began moving in my direction as I
understood that our talks came to reveal we
lived in similar worlds where paths sometimes crossed. Frankly, most of
what I knew of him was from hearing things, all good by the way, about him from others in his
family as he moved away from this place, his hometown, years before,
sometime around the time I moved here and laid
some claim to this place now being my home. Despite all this, I could
say I really didn’t know him. He sat down beside me anyway.
As
we usually do, we traded small talk. We caught up on the broad details
of our lives and the lives of our families. This day though we didn’t
quickly pass by one another. We had
time to talk beyond the weather and the general health of those we
love.
I
then noticed he had spotted my wife not too far away talking to someone
else. He reminded me they had known each other pretty much all their
lives. He then said something to the
effect of how she is one of the best people he has ever known. He
remembered how she always spoke to him when she saw him, from when they
first knew each other to the very day we were living then. I could tell
from his words how much this meant to him.
We
continued to talk. He asked how Jennifer and I came together. That
story takes some time. It involves relatives, friends, a job change, an
auto accident, a visit to Montana and
the providence of God, among other things. I spent a few moments
connecting the dots and hitting the high points so that he could see how
the pure random circumstances of Jennifer and I being together and
hitting the lottery twice in one day hold about the
same odds.
Soon,
though, the time for conversation was over. He had to leave. We shook
hands commenting how we enjoyed the conversation. The next thing I know
he was rounding up his wife and
kids and other family members to head out the door.
It can be difficult to see things from someone else's perspective. As my friend talked about my wife though I could plainly see what he saw in her. Often this
space is dedicated to my thoughts or the antics of our
six-year-old who amuses us, amazes us and often teaches us about life
and ourselves. I am not unaware though that
I am able to share these things because I share my life with a better
half than I could ever hope to be on my own. I don’t write about her as
much as I should or could. She though is the glue that holds our family
together.
She
is the kind heart who thinks of things to do for others. She is the
“mean Momma” sometimes when Hannah’s blue eyes warm Daddy’s heart. She
is the friend who never misses the
opportunity to speak to a lifelong friend when she can. She is the
woman who melted away the stubbornness of a man who chased the wind and his own
shadow for way too long. Day to day, she is elbow deep busy making our
lives together something worth cherishing.
I plan to grow old beside her. I try not to ever seem unappreciative of her but if and when I do seem to take her for granted I am thankful for friends who see a glimpse of who she is at her very being then value those qualities and can, in some way, remind me how special she truly is. It is not
lost on me that I have been blessed beyond what I deserve.
