Long Overdue

Today's assignment - Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends or if you don't have any blogger friends write about a real life friend or family member.

Ummm, for ONE?  I don't think so!!!  I have quite a few blogger family members and I hearby profess my love and devotion for all of them - My sister Sallie, my nephew Jake,  my son Jonathan, his wife, Shanda and my daughter Caitlin - and I think my daughter Kristen wrote for a store blog as well.  I don't have any friends who blog, but I do have lots of great friends.  I am not going to single out one of them either.

Instead I think I will write about a family member who I tend to take for granted, my husband John.
John and I just got home from a great trip to St. John in the US Virgin Islands.  To justify splurging on this vacation we called it our 30th anniversary trip.  We are not good at celebrating our anniversaries consistently, but we do sporadically.  But nothing has been on the magnitude of this trip, and over the course of the week we were away I did reflect on the fact that yes, 30 years of marriage really is something worth celebrating.  So John this one is for you - and long overdue!

When we were first going out I loved that John was so willing to try out new experiences that meant a lot to me, like boating and water skiing, sailing and hiking, camping and hiking.  He even let me give him some instruction on horseback on our first anniversary trip! That takes a secure ego.  I loved that he joined into our crazy family vacations at the Red House getting right into the mix.  I loved that he encouraged my athletic endeavors, cheering me on at my soccer games at college, playing tennis with me and my family, going skiing with me.  He was more excited than I was when I won my first trophy in a bench press competition!  He was right there along the road for the triathlon I swam in a couple years ago.

John has continued to work to education himself constantly. Getting his Ph.D, and even after that continuing to study and read topics about work and more - he has and stretch his mind to encompass topics in health care, the ecology, gardening and landscaping, and more.  And even in marriage and relationships he has been willing to seek professional counsel to improve things.

John puts his family first, especially when it comes to working hard to support their education and opportunities.  John has worked 2 jobs and sacrificed time on the golf course, vacations and days off and many many weekends so that his children could go to the schools of their choice, have nice weddings, own cars, play sports, etc., and so that I could work part time and be available to parent. On top of this he takes care of himself to make sure he is can continue to care for us all.

Oh sure, John is not exactly patient, he can be hard to communicate with at times, he can get into a negative kick, and he can be brutally honest.  I mean it, brutally honest! But -

He is a good role model for his children.
He is willing to listen to me when we argue.
He has a fun sense of humor.
He does dishes, cooking, and vacuuming when needed
He knows how to show me a good time when we get away on romantic trips.


John is not perfect - and has certainly aggravated me from time to time throughout the years, but you know what?  I am sure I have aggravated him too, and he is still here.  When I am feeling upset with him I have a favorite memory from our early years that always melts my heart.  When we lived in NH, on the cold winter nights (of which there were quite a few) John would always go to bed a few minutes earlier than me, and he would like on my side of the bed to warm it up for me.

And I can't leave out 2 little things that are huge to me - he gets the palmetto bugs, and he ALWAYS PUTS THE SEAT DOWN!

So to my bed warmer, foot warmer and heart warmer, I dedicate this blog entry.  I am a lucky woman, and I should tell you more often. Thanks for a great 30 (soon to be 31) years - and here's to many more!  I can't wait to see what is in store for us!