I have the best husband in the world. Lest you feel you want to debate that with me, I have proof:
1. We had a weekend of imposing logical consequences on the kids. Not fun, but absolutely required as a parent from time to time. Through it all he stood beside me, resolute, solid, and with a twinkle in his eye. His belief is that we won’t have performed our duty unless we give our kids something to tell their psychiatrists when they are older. Let me tell you, with that kind of attitude, going on the rampage takes on a whole ‘nother light.
2. When I overscheduled the coming week’s driving, he rearranged his calendar to pick up three teenaged boys at the end of the school day. I happen to know that’s just when he’s finally allowed to get into his own zone at work.
3. He takes our son to the dentist. I can handle Molly. She’s resigned to having her teeth cleaned and doesn’t have the least anxiety. But because I’m afraid my own dental phobia will contaminate my already-anxious son, P has always spared me this task.
4. My city just had its second snowfall of the year – a massive dump of over a foot in twenty-four hours. We awoke to clean, fresh air, brilliant white, and one neighbor after another getting stranded in our cul de sac. Enter my husband. He hand-shovelled our driveway, then seized the neighbors snowblower. This is the result:
It took him five hours, and before the dusting of snow that arrived overnight, you could see down to the street’s pavement, as if it had been plowed and then swept. You can’t get a sense of how immense the task is from this picture, but trust me, it’s huge. Also, he extended his efforts all the way out to the main street.
5. When the neighbors arrived with freshly cooked samosas and a box of Turtles by way of thanks, he shared them with the rest of his sluggard family.
6. He fixed my sister and brother-in-law’s broken garage door opener at minus thirty weather. In five minutes.
Do you have an amazing spouse? Care to share any gratitude stories with us about them?
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Well, congratulations, Jan! It’s always nice to have such a supportive hubby. And I think it’s awfully sweet to honor him in this way… hope he appreciates your appreciation. 🙂
Mine is equally awesome – here’s one of my latest stories of gratitude.
And when you say turtles, do you mean these?
BTW, it’s nice to know that, even though I’ve been away for a while, my befuddled avatar hasn’t changed at all. How does it remember me?
Goodness! You DO have a good troll 🙂
Laura, aw, that is a sweet post about your Danny Boy. He might even qualify as the second best husband in the world with those kind of credentials. 😉
Wrt Turtles, no, I meant the purchased-from-the-corner-drugstore-or-supermarket kind, like this: http://www.nestle.ca/en/products/brands/turtles/index , although they do look remarkably similar to yours. (Yum.)
As far as the avatar, LOL, someone said the WordPress program goes according to the IP address. So unless you change computers, befuddled you shall remain. 🙂
Donna, posting at the same time as you. 🙂 Yes, I do, thanks, although he’s big enough he’d probably qualify more as a gentle giant of a man.
Your hubby sounds wonderful, Hope. And your tribute to him, sweet. Though, I suspect if he were a blogger, he could fill the pages with examples of your superstar wifery (yeah, I just made that word up 🙂 – I’d say you make a perfect pair.
Being a newlywed means I learn something new everyday that makes me think I have the best hubby in the world. I have yet to drive to work in a cold car, or walk on snow drifted paths, or rushed out alone to get my coveted Coke Zero in the midst of a writing spree.
But this weekend, he kind of raised the bar, when after driving a car full of people on sketchy roads in annual search of our Christmas tree, he spotted the perfect specimen – just over a five foot barbed wire fence. While the rest of us (two adults, two kids and two dogs) stayed warm, my handsome hubby leapt over the fence, sprinted to the eight foot, five-feet-wide tree, sawed it down, dragged it to the fence, heaved it over, and strapped it to car – all in less than ten minutes. The tree in my basement is the most beautiful I have ever seen.
My wife amazes me constantly (usually in a good way :)) — I don’t tell her this enough, of course, but I’m constantly impressed how she handles the rigors of residency w/ the rigors of me.
Tell her, Bane! Tell her!
Dawn, I am torn between awe and horror, depending on where he obtained the tree. 😮 I do like the other parts of your tribute, however. Your coldbreasted tree snatcher sounds like a keeper. 😉
Bane, she’d probably qualify as Best Wife in the World just for marrying you, nevermind the residency part. (Ba da boom. Thanks very much for your applause, folks. Make sure to try the pot roast and I’ll be back for an encore Wednesday night.)
But seriously, if you haven’t done so already, I’ll echo Laura’s comment. Perhaps Mrs. Anubis deserves a blog post of her own…?
LOL. I knew you would say that – I have said, on numerous occasions, I like bad boys. 🙂
“I knew you would say that.”
Is that code for “You are a consistent soul”, or “Boooring?”, hmmm?
Well, if it makes you feel any better, Jan… I was thinking the same thing – how Dawn’s story made me feel equally awed and horrified. Poor little tree. 🙁
Oh, great idea–I might have to borrow it for a blog post. Your hubby sounds awesome! Mine rocks as well–I srsly couldn’t ask for more support in my quest to become a published YA author. He watches the kids whenever I ask, just so I can work on the novel.
Lovely idea!
Then you may tell Mr. Houndrat that the world thanks him for his efforts. And you are more than welcome to borrow the idea, although I can’t claim ownership of it in any sense.
Mine is out walking the dog in a blizzard right now. On my day to do it. Nuff said.
He has threatened to write his own non-fiction book: The Care and Feeding the Romance Writer.
One chapter would involve advice on how to tell what century you are in and whether the people she is ranting about at the moment are real or fictional.
A blizzard, huh? Yeah, I’d say he qualifies for hero status.
And I love the book idea. I think there should be a chapter entitled “Why Her Insomnia Doesn’t Have to Become Yours”.
One nit, however: I’m not sure there’s a difference between real and fictional.
I have two awesome husbands: an ex- and a current. Here’s why both of them are the best possible in the world:
My ex-husband paid off my law school loans — before we got married! His reasoning was that my debt would be his debt, so why not. (I did try to talk him out of it, but I didn’t try all that hard.)
My ex-husband once let me scream (really scream — fishwife scream) at him on a public street corner when I was overcome with frustration at a situation with my sister. He understood that I was mad at the sister, not at him. When he got home, he wrote an email to the sister that laid out, in very calm rational and definitive reasons why she was wrong and had to leave me alone. That was the first time in my life I had a knight in shining armour (he’s British).
My ex-husband introduced me to my current husband, and attended our wedding. (For a picture, and the story, you can go here: http://narrowend.blogspot.com/2009/10/whos-your-hero.html)
Okay, so if Hub 1.0 is so wonderful, why did I trade him in for Hub 2.0? Well, first of all, Hub 1.0 and I really enjoyed our marriage and saw it had made us ready to be not married. If that hadn’t been true for both of us, we’d still be married. But since we were ready to part, it was okay to fall for Hub 2.0, who is as wonderful, but in different ways.
First off, Hub 2.0 understands that Hub 1.0 is the family of my heart and that marrying me meant getting the ex as an in-law of sorts; in other words, Hub 1.0 was part of the package (as a friend, of course). There’s a generosity and security in that acceptance that is monumental, and priceless.
Hub 2.0 fills the holes in my heart — so much that I’ve been able to find a safe and sane way to be in the same world as the people with the greatest power to hurt me. (Another British knight in shining armour — how’d I get so lucky?)
Hub 2.0 is a software developer formerly living on his own in suburban England, so of course he was willing to move to a 200+ year old house on 24 acres in rural Pennsylvania, learn to fell the trees necessary to feed our woodstove, as well as splitting, stacking and hauling all that wood for the winter. (He’s also my personal IT specialist.)
But the best thing about my current husband is that for him, I’m the only thing that will do. And as I don’t do it for a lot of people, this is the best thing I’ve ever gotten from anyone, ever.
Magdalen, what a touching comment and blog post! (Particularly that last paragraph.)
I’m always so pleased to read of/know people who can leave behind a marriage but not their friendship and respect for each other. Kudos to all three of you for having the maturity to keep that dynamic. I can’t help thinking that there’s a common link between two British soldiers, and that she’s a woman filled with gratitude can’t be any coincidence.
Aw, Hope, what a great post. And what a fabulous husband.
My better half is amazing for a million little and big reasons, but mostly because after 10+ years together he’s still my best friend, still the first and sometimes the only person I want to share my good (or bad) news with, still the only one I trust with all of me, and he can still surprise me.
Oy. /sap
Amy, I have decided I’m good with sap. I lurve sap. Bring on the sap. Because goodness knows we’re exposed to enough despair and cynicism in our media every day. I don’t know about you, but I’m a better person for the times I remember to be grateful for all that I have.
Speaking of which, so glad you have your Art-man. My husband is my BFF too. My fondest wish is that my kids will find that in their partners.
I have no stunning stories of the 50 years D & I have been married…BUT he is always there, has been such a support thru every crisis and has shared the rollercoaster of emotions…my buddy!
PS.. Those of you who live in frigid climates HAVE MY SYMPATHY!! Hope…. a picture speaks a thousand words. I wuz even all right with the foot of snow.. can relate to the *digging out* But 35 below temps.? NO WAY!
Amazing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Carol, I would say that 50 years of marriage and still being your buddy and constant supporter, counts as much as the grand gesture. Congratulations. There aren’t many people who can list that among their accomplishments.
Sputnitsa, thanks. 🙂 Have missed seeing you around.