A Tribute to My Best Friend

I feel quite nostalgic today.  You see, it is my 25th wedding anniversary, and my husband is in Las Vegas on a business trip.  He has called me several times today (sweet man!) but, of course, I would rather have him here in person.  Until he comes home Friday, I will have to content myself by looking at photographs and reflecting on 25 years of marriage to my best friend.  In honor of my husband and the day, I would like to share some thoughts about this great guy I have had the pleasure to know and love all these years!

Several of you know my husband, but here are a few things you may not know about John.  He is a very good bowler, photographer, and dancer.  In fact, he used to be a dance instructor with Arthur Murray (while he was in the Army, he was written up in the base newspaper because he gave dance lessons to his fellow soldiers)!  John was in the Army for 3 three years.  About half of that time was spent on the island of Okinawa, where he copied Morse code for Army Intelligence.  It is also where he sustained a collapsed lung.  He has some pretty serious-looking scars as a souvenir of his stay in Okinawa.  John has a nickname, "Kracker", which was his father's before him (actually, I think his father's nickname was "Krackers").  Perhaps I should say, "had", because no one calls him by that name anymore, and it is all my fault!  When I met John, and especially when we began dating, I always called him John so, gradually, everyone else did, too.  Later, after we had been married some time, I used John's old nickname as part of my e-mail address.  John jokingly said, "You take my last name, you take my nickname, you take everything!"

I smile when I think about...

...the time I told John I wouldn't go out with him (after we had been seeing each other for 4 or 5 months), which was the same night John was going to tell me how he felt about me.

...when John asked me to marry him, he had written 1st Corinthians 13 on a beautiful card, at the bottom of which he had also written "Kate, will you be my wife.", just like that...no question mark.  I nodded and said, "For sure!"

...John kissing me 3 times during the wedding ceremony (twice before Bruce even said, "you may now kiss the bride"!  Bruce then said, "Hmm, eager!"

...when Nathan was born at the Birthing Center of Delaware, John was crouching at the foot of the bed with a backwards baseball cap on his head, ready to "catch" our baby!

...the day John brought home a new car (in the colors I wanted) without any warning, like he was bringing home the groceries.

...what a good dancer John is.  I always enjoy any opportunity we have to dance together.  (I love being in his arms!)

...how John never complains when I send him to the store for "personal" products.  He has even directed other guys on their first foray down the feminine hygiene aisle.

...how John often teases and torments me during church, then acts like he isn't doing anything and tells me, "shh, we're in church!"

...John's frequent (read: almost daily) comment to me, "You're too much!",  for absolutely no reason at all (she said with her tongue planted firmly in her cheek)!

John has taught me that it is good to be quiet together, it is perfectly acceptable to be on time (even early) for things, that it is fun to visit the neighbors, that working in the garden is not fatal (well, not to me...but to the plants...)!

I am so thankful to God for bringing us together!  John is such a blessing in my life.  I cannot imagine life without him.  I sometimes feel like I fly through life by the seat of my pants, but John keeps me grounded.  What can I say, he is simply the best!

"Nothing in this world is single; all things by law divine in one spirit mix and mingle; why not I with thine?"  (Percy Bysshe Shelley)

"Shared laughter is love made audible."  (Izzy Gesell)