At a different point in my life, it would have been imperative for me to complete this piece before or on October 26th. Celebrating 40 years of marriage sounds a lot louder than it actually is. I’m happy that I’ve matured enough through the years to understand most of the important things in life. And something I understand now is something that escaped me as a younger man…,don’t ever let “the story” actually be the story of 40 years of marriage. I was too busy enjoying two straight days of “things we like to do together” mode to take the time to tell anyone about it. And the real stuff doesn’t need to be broadcast. In light of this momentous occasion, I give you a Top 10 list of…The Best Things About Being Married to My Wife:
Seeing her understand her worth and value. In 1985, neither one of us had a clue of our worth or value as humans (I truly could care less about financial worth and value). Her journey towards that understanding has taken longer than mine, and it has been great to see her make friends with self-worth.
Holds traditional roles near and dear to her heart. She lived with her grandma in their family home (now our family home) and is the only daughter…of and only daughter…of an only daughter. And she is fast becoming as excellent of a grandmother to her own grandkids as her grandmother was to her.
She is also the “holiday glue” that holds the family together. I grew up in a very non-traditional set-up in terms of holidays. It was “up north” or just another day and night at the trailer. My wife has allowed for our daughters to understand and appreciate the importance of the celebrations and traditions.
No one outworks her at work and certainly not at home. She is the Energizer Bunny crossed with Mrs. Clean incarnate. Sometimes I gotta trick her in the summer to get her to stop working in the yard and come in for supper. She never misses work and her only true frustration there is when she sees someone not being as consistently productive as she is.
She never looks to spend money on herself. It would be easy for her to spend whatever she wants, whenever she wants…I have not looked at a paycheck in forever, had any kind of allowance, or carried much cash. She 100% has control of Family Finance. I’m a consultant. She could spend anything and I’d never know….and she never would.
She has gotten progressively more beautiful as she has aged. We don’t drink “fine wine”, but I can tell you that I thought that my wife was the whole package physically when we got married. And I also know that there are very few women her age that look and present themselves like she does today….but I may have some bias in there.
She gets me….and not everyone does…and plenty of people have no interest in the subject matter. But she gets me…therefore she gets me.
She has a razor-sharp wit. I pride myself on being able to crack people up. My wife cracks me up all the time. I can’t imagine a life spent with someone for this long and not being able to laugh daily. Together, at each other, or otherwise, I believe our relationship includes as much laughter as any relationship I’ve seen.
I know and appreciate her vulnerabilities. And I know she trusts me unconditionally to cover her at all times. And I do. Good/bad, right/wrong, up/down…it doesn’t matter…you know someone trusts you when the rely on you to be there in certain moments. And I am never sick at sea when it comes to having my wife’s back.
EVERYTHING we have, we have because of a choice we made in 1985. I feel confident she does not regret that choice and I know I don’t. Everything, including relationships, evolve and ours is no different. We didn’t know what we were gonna do with the rest of our lives before we got married. Truth be told, neither one of us really knew our ass from our elbow in the grand scheme of things and neither of us had much or were given anything. But we both felt right about the fact that we wanted to do this life together. Best choice of my life. #justyouandi
Much thanks and love again to our daughters Melissa Rheineck and her husband Jason, and Katelyn and Jessica Hegewald for planning and putting on an amazing surprise party for us. It was a spectacular evening!! And no way Gramma would stand for grandchildren not being mentioned. As always, thanks, love and pride to William and Jackson Rheineck and Layla Hegewald.
Happy 40th Anniversary to my wife…I love you today more than I ever have…and tomorrow will be more than today.
