My funny Valentine

Sweet, comic Valentine.  You make me smile with my heart...

Ofttimes our greatest blessings are right in front of our eyes.  We tend to forget that, until some small sweet reminder peels away the blindness and wakens us to the hidden truth. 

It isn't a new concept that once the children leave the nest, mama and papa bird will look at each other skeptically, and ask ,Who are You?  Do I know You?  It hasn't exactly been that way with Brian and I, but I have been looking at my husband with new eyes.  Am I seeing the man I fell in love with twenty-seven years ago?  Well, not exactly.  We've both changed a little.

I do see an extraordinary man, though.  One that successfully balances his work, his family, and his church service.  Even if the hours don't seem to be dispersed fairly; even though I seem to sit home alone most of the time, I cannot deny that everything he does when he is away from me is ultimately for my benefit, my welfare, my advantage.

I don't know of a better father.  He is completely devoted to his children.  They are his greatest joy.  Brian has a unique way of sharing his love for them.  It may not be in the words he speaks, but every action, every concern, every prayer indicates they are the center of his universe.

Brian often misquotes the lovely words of the poet Robert Browning, immmortalized in a Bette Midler song:  Grow old along me; the best is yet to be.  Brian's version is "Grow old and die with me".  Not quite as comforting as the original, but I know in his silly way, he is telling me that we are in this for the long haul.  No matter that we spend a lot of our time complaining to each other about the aches and pains of getting old and pathetic, we have chosen to do it together and we intend to make the most of it.  And we do!  Just this morning he asked me how I felt about going to Africa?  What?!  Well, my dear, if that is where we can best be of service, then digging ditches in Africa it is, or wherever else we end up.  As long as we are at one another's side, we can do anything.

Why was I so blessed to find Brian Haws?  He has been an ideal husband.  I can number the rough patches in our marriage on one hand, and only minor ones at that.  Not bad considering the heartache that is evident on every side.  Good marriages are about give and take.  Thankfully Brian has done most of the giving, and most of the taking my weaknesses in stride and overlooking them.

Thank you for letting me post my love letter publicly.  A girl sometimes feels that she wants to declare her love from the mountaintops. 

Don't change a hair for me, not if you care for me.  Stay, little Valentine, stay!  Each day is Valentines Day.