Today is my wife\u2019s birthday. Any of you that have followed this blog over the years know that I don\u2019t talk too much about Claire \u2014 she\u2019s mostly just mentioned in passing when the subject is something else.<\/p>\n
I know it isn\u2019t proper to mention one\u2019s age, so I won\u2019t. But suffice it to say that this birthday falls into the \u2018major milestone\u2019 category. It\u2019s hard to believe that Claire is as old as she is \u2014 of course, it\u2019s hard to believe I\u2019m as old as I am.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an old saying that a man marries a woman hoping she won\u2019t change and a woman marries a man hoping to change him. The fact is, everybody<\/em> changes \u2014 in all sorts of ways. Getting older or \u201caging\u201d is only one of those ways. Age is no big deal \u2014 it\u2019s just a number if\u2026 you\u2019re healthy, having fun, enjoying your life \u2014 age is a welcome adventure.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not a Shakespeare fan but I do remember a line from one of his sonnets that reads, \u201cLove\u2019s not Time\u2019s Fool.\u201d\u00a0 The subject of the sonnet is that beauty will fade, but true love never will. Well, even though Claire has reached that \u2019major milestone\u2019 birthday, I don\u2019t think her beauty has faded one bit and my love for her grows every day. I try to tell her I love her often, but I probably don\u2019t do it enough. I doubt that anyone ever gets to the end of their life and thinks, damn, I wish I hadn\u2019t said \u2018I love you\u2019 so many times.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been married more than 40 years, we have two children and two grandchildren and we\u2019ve both changed a lot in that time \u2014 I guess, as they say, both inside and outside. When I look at her I see her as the only girl I ever considered marrying. The girl that I traveled a lot of the world with. The girl that I experienced earthquakes, terrorist attacks, fires, typhoons, good times and bad with. I see the girl that gave birth to our kids. I see the joy \u2014 and worry \u2014 as we brought them home and they became great people. I see years of happiness and smiles and love in her face.<\/p>\n Periodically, people say, \u201cyou two seem to get along really well.\u201d I think that\u2019s true and I think what happens over time is that I become more attracted to Claire\u2019s whole person \u2014 I love her personality, her charm, her talent, her toughness, her wit \u2014 she\u2019s amazing \u2014 mischievous, smart and increasingly wise. The longer I know her, the more good stuff I find to be attracted to and I find her more attractive as the days go on\u2026. her smile never fails to brighten my day.<\/p>\n So here we are at that \u2018major milestone\u2019 birthday\u2026 how old do you have to be to have a \u2018major milestone\u2019 birthday? I think Satchel Paige said, \u201cHow old would you be if you didn\u2019t know how old your were?\u201d See, the age thing really isn\u2019t important at all \u2014 the important thing is being loved so completely by someone that your age doesn\u2019t matter one bit. Happy Birthday to my best friend, true love and soul mate \u2014 Claire. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is my wife\u2019s birthday. Any of you that have followed this blog over the years know that I don\u2019t talk too much about Claire \u2014 she\u2019s mostly just mentioned in passing when the subject is something else. I know … Continue reading
\n\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n