I have spent hours bragging endlessly about my amazing son and all the ways & reasons that I love him, but I don't think I've spent much time at all talking about the man who made him. My beloved turns 29 today, and in his honor I present to you an ode of love.
Elvis (yes, it's his real name) is the coolest person I've ever met. He simply is who he is, without regard for whether people like him. But of course they DO like him because he is - above all - friendly. My very wise uncle says that Elvis "has never met a stranger," which is true because he can instantly find something to talk about to anyone in any situation. It's why most of his students love him. He just puts people at ease. He's also hilarious. Witty, dry, corny, punny, slapstick; he loves jokes of all sorts, and is a master joke and story teller.
Elvis loves trivia and absolutely thirsts for knowledge, so he knows a little about everything, and a LOT about a few things. He can school you or anyone you know on baseball history, trivia and stats. Actually, his love of baseball was one of the reasons I fell in love with him. It is a passionate, unconditional love; baseball is his religion, his drug of choice. When we met, his beloved home team, the Philadelphia Phillies, were on their way to becoming the losingest team in MLB history. I watched him cheer and cry for that 2005 team, and I knew there was something very special about a man with that kind of passion and loyalty to such a crappy team. And I was right. Elvis is as good a husband as he is a baseball fan: devoted, optimistic, fair-minded, and - always - doing it purely for love of the game.
Having known him for 8 years now, it's been my pleasure to watch Elvis grown from a young man to a grown-ass man (the step before old man, of course), and it's been a sweet ride. He has always had a certain maturity, thanks to his close relationship with his parents (whom I can never thank enough for the treasure they made me, and for all the joy that has come since we met), but his transformation from boyfriend/college student to husband/HS teacher and then father has not dimmed - even for a moment - his wonder, imagination, and creativity. He is a multi-instrument musician, a poet/songwriter, a painter, an author and a playwright. In fact, after reading it at the start of last school year, his HS students opted to mount a production of his original play, Twelve Doors. It was a completely amazing experience for the kids and for him, and I have never been so proud of him.
It sounds like he is just good at everything, and that is because he is. He is a tender and patient father to our unbelievable son; he is a dependable and seemingly tireless co-worker, attending games and events on weekends and sponsoring a ton of clubs aside from his own Drama Club; he is quite the most inventive and delightful personal chef, and a helpful sous chef when it's my turn in the kitchen. Most important of all, though, he is - without a doubt - the best friend I have ever had. He knows me, the real me, down to my every flaw, and he loves me without judgment or reservation. In fact, he said he loved me after knowing me for 3 weeks (yeah, it freaked me out) and then waited patiently for me to say it back because he knew what we had right from the start. He makes me happier than I ever imagined I could be, makes me laugh even in my darkest moods, supports me when I run out of faith or patience, and takes care to let me and Henry know we are the most precious things in his universe - just as he is in ours.
Lastly, without Elvis I would not have my precious Henry (or - probably - any child ever), and for that one reason alone I will never stop loving him. But there are a million other reasons I love my husband, and I am so overwhelmingly grateful that I get to spend my life doing it.
Happy birthday to the love of my life.
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