An Open Love Letter to My Wife

Let me begin by telling you how much I love you. We've been together eight years and I'm not sure a day has gone by where I haven't told you that. I could of write it in the sky. I could send you a card a day. Flowers every Saturday (cost prohibitive as they are, besides the fact you would kill me). As nice as that all sounds, you don't need that. You know all of that. It's embedded inside you. You know whether I say it or write it, that I love you. I could go a month without saying it and you'd still know.

Loving you is more than words and pretty things or flowers. It's little things. Getting dinner ready while you are still working. Making sure that household chores get done. Help make sure homework is done. Showers are taken. Laundry put away. Not very romantic, I know. But you don't always need romance. The fact that these tasks are off your shoulders breeds romance. That's where my  I love yous mean the most. I vowed to take care of you the day we were married. Taking care of you means taking care of things while you're sick or tired or working. Helping you raise our children. Your boys and my daughter. Being money conscious and aware of our finances. Things that every spouse and partner should be considerate of.

I could tell you how beautiful I think you are, and how attracted to you I am. (Right now the kids would be saying, "Ewww! Gross!). The thing is there are many other things that I love about you.

I love watching scary movies with you and when you scream and jump. 

I love that you continually have ideas about improving the house, even if they seem far fetched. 

I love how you usually have one foot sticking out of the bed in the morning while you're still asleep. 

I love how strong willed you are, even if it doesn't benefit me. 

I love your friendship (words can't even explain)

So my dear, my flowers will be emptying the dishwasher. My box of chocolates will be cooking dinners. My card will be a foot massage when you're tired. Although I can pretty much guarantee that there will still be romantic items from time to time, I will flood you with the romance you really need, and save the mushy stuff when you least expect it. 

Your loving friend and husband, 

Ed

#love

#RelationshipGoals

#marriage

Back When...

I was sitting outside tonight, keeping an eye on the grill, as hot dogs and italian sausage popped and sizzled above the flames. I was listening to my 70's playlist on my iPhone, and I was thinking about a simpler time. At least a simpler time for me. I hear these songs and I can remember and see certain memories. As if I was transported back.

A time that my dad was still with us, and I would be in my room at home, laying on the bottom bunk, listening to the AM radio. That was my iPod. No fancy boombox then. My buddy lived next door, so I had easy access to a playmate. I'd come home from school, go out and play until dinner, and then after helping clean up, it was homework and then just hanging out in my room. Drawing, writing, or even just staring at posters on my walls (Farrah Fawcett in the red swimsuit was my fave) and just listening to music. This was the era of the K-Tel compilation albums. To be played on a record player. Today it's "Now That's (fill-in-the-blank)"

What was there to worry about? Aside from Nuclear War, which still worries me today, what really was there? My dad would tell me that there was nothing I could do, and neither country wanted to kill themselves, so worrying solved nothing. But as an adult, there are so many things to worry about. Marriage, kids, money, mortgages, car payments, insurance, retirement, taxes, death, etc.

Kids today don't see that. They want to be older before they need to. Back then, there were no worries about these things. Our parents took care of them. They had the worries. Like we do now. As a kids, there was no heartbreak gut punch. Love was a distant light in the future. We rode bikes. We didn't sit and stare blankly at a computer screen or a video game console. Atari came along, but it didn't encompass all our time. I love to shoot zombies on my PS4. But when I have some downtime, and I'm not being dad or husband.

Don't get me wrong. I love my life. I'm married to a wonderful woman, have 3 great kids, and a nice house and a couple dogs. Being grown up has it's perks. There's things you can do as an adult. But it's nice to think back and revisit a time when things were simpler. At least as a kid. I hope my kids will take their time growing up and appreciate the opportunity to only worry about homework, going to school, the occasional chore, and the possible schoolmate worry from time to time. It does go by fast. Too fast it seems. So for now, I'll hit that 70's playlist, take a trip home and see my dad, and take a little break from adulting.