The Love of My Life

God has blessed me with the most wonderful husband.  On Christmas day we will be celebrating 32 amazing years of marriage.  In so many ways it does not seem like 32 years; but in so many ways it seems like we have been married forever.  I guess that is the way it feels when you are married to right person and God has blessed the marriage all those years!!

Gary and I have known each other most of our lives.  Our families were very good friends; our mothers taught Sunday School together for over 25 years and were best friends (almost like sisters since neither had family in the area).  I think I probably loved Gary for years before he ever realized I was more than a friend.  He says God had it planned that way because we both had to mature and be at a place in our lives where we would love and appreciate each other the way we should.  We were both 30 when we married; so, we have decided that the real truth was that we were just "slow learners"!!  Whatever the truth and no matter how old we were when we married, I know that the last 32 years have been the best of my life!!

Gary was the one who kept telling me when I became anxious about having children that God had babies for us if we would just be patient; he was the one who would get up in the middle of the night when our babies would begin crying and would bring them to me; when EAH and LH were sick, Gary was there to help; Gary was the one who read from the Bible to them while they were still in the womb; he was the one who helped care for both of my ill parents (he opened his arms and welcomed them into our home just like they were his parents; he took vacation time to take them to many, many doctor visits; he was the one who stood behind the x-ray machine to hold my Dad's arms up when he was too weak to; he was the one who would clean up after them without complaining; he was the one who loved me through all of it and was my rock when I could no longer be).  Gary is an amazing Daddy; he has shown by example what a godly husband and father should be.  He has worked very hard to provide a wonderful life for his family and continues to do so.  Gary has seen me through a number of illnesses and surgeries and never left my side.  He loves the teenagers of our church and works to provide a safe place for them to come to.  Gary's love for his Dad is amazing; I love seeing them together and listening to their conversations.  His love for our nieces and nephews is very evident--taking little boys and girls fishing and patiently showing them how to put bait on hooks and taking fish off those same hooks; patiently taking Tre' in his arms and calming him down just by talking to him; putting up with Aunt Cheryl when she wants to buy and buy for them; going to Dallas to celebrate a girl's birthday when he really should be at home working.  He has adopted Jilli and Emma as his "grandchildren until we have some of our own" and he loves them.  Watching him as he rocks Emma and sings to her or talking to Jilli who is sitting in his lap is a wonderful experience.

Gary, I love you and always will.  For these and so many more reasons, I am thankful that God has so richly blessed my life by giving me the best husband in the world.  You are the love of my life and always will be.