To my husband, on Mother’s Day.

Blogged on Sunday, May 11th, 2008 by Rachael. Filed in Blog365, Philosophical.

Dear Troy,

Everyone is expecting a funny joke now about how you’re the mom around here, or something, but I have to disappoint them because this is actually a SERIOUS letter.  VERY SERIOUS.  Mostly.

I am writing you on Mother’s Day because you make my life better, and as a result, I’m a better person and a better mom.

You’ve been here with me for more than a year now, and even though we’ve only been married for a few weeks, it feels like you have been by my side for so much longer than that.  You are my rock, my best friend; the strong arms that hold me when I cry, the blue eyes that say I love you, the generous spirit that brings me coffee in the morning before I even remember I want it.  (Which is saying something, you know, darling, because I LOVE my caffeine!)

My kids are now our kids, not just because we got married, but because you treat them like they belong to you.  You agonize over how best to raise them, you worry when you think you might have messed something up, you carry them from the car to their bed without waking them up.  We’ve taken them to the park, to the movies, to restaurants.  We’ve been complimented on their behavior.  We’ve been horrified at their tantrums when they flare up in public, and we’ve dealt with it together, with as much peace and dignity as you can garner when small people are FREAKING OUT.

You back me up, you stick by me.  You’re my knight in shining armor and my bad boy fantasy, all at the same time.  You love me for who I actually am, which is shocking, because you actually KNOW a lot of who I really am.  Right now you’re making hamburgers for all of us to eat for dinner, and I’m supposed to come and make the baked beans, but I just had a few more words to write so I’m almost done, I promise.

I love that we cook together and I love that we take walks and hold hands.  I hate that we fight and that we blow things out of proportion, but that’s the kind of people we are, and with each argument we learn better how not to hurt each other quite so much next time.  You’re the only person I have ever been able to argue with and still know deep in my soul that I love you more than I have ever loved any man before.

Whenever we have our own baby - and I know this is a sad subject for us still, because it wasn’t so very long ago that we lost a pregnancy - that child will have awesome parents, just like our Lissie, Joey, and Ian already have.  I could not love my family more than I do now, except that tomorrow I will love it even more, because that’s what love does.  It just keeps expanding and gathering more into itself and getting better and better with time.

With all my heart, I love you.  Happy Mother’s Day to us!