Seven Whys For Seven Years

Seven years. Isn't something supposed to be itchy?

I don't feel scratchy. Well, except my eyes which I'd like to pluck out and throw at whatever I'm allergic to. But really. Nothing itchy. Nothing scratchy. Just another year, really.

If by just another year I mean Dude, I'm more in love with him now than ever and I don't really want to be anywhere more than I want to be in his arms. Unless I can be in his arms in Hawaii sipping a drink with an umbrella in it. Or, well, Italy would be nice.

He knows I love him. I tell him multiple times a day. I end with it every time we hang up the phone. I've written all about it here. But, in case anyone is looking for a "why" here goes.

SEVEN WHYS FOR SEVEN YEARS

1. I love him because he is the spiritual head of our house. When I have a biblical question he almost always has an answer. If he doesn't have the answer, he makes a point of finding it...quickly. He is kingdom minded. And, as he looks ahead to what comes after this life, he spends this one loving me.

2. He loves the people that are most important to me. He loves our children. He plays with them and he snuggles with them and he disciplines them and he adores them. And he changes diapers. Obviously, I wouldn't have married him if he'd refused to change diapers (No. I'm not even kidding.) but the fact that he changes them willingly--sometimes some of the most horrible ones--is a definite bonus. He loves my family--sometimes I think he loves them just as much as I do. He loves to spend time with them, play games with them, laugh with them, vacation with them. It warms my heart. Quite a lot.

3. He does the dishes at least six nights out of seven. Hand washes them, even. And he cleans the floors. Because he knows how much I hate floors. He also mows the lawn. I grew up in a house where the dad did the yard work so I basically expect this from him. However, it is good because I have a slightly irrational fear of lawn mowers. I feel like I had a friend whose father or uncle or something lost a finger as a result of a lawn mower gone bad. I've been kind of afraid of them ever since I learned this information--or made it up.

4. He works so that I don't have to work outside of the home. Sometimes his hours are great and allow us to spend a lot of time together. Sometimes he's on the phone for two hours dealing with a care situation. Sometimes he has a lot of meetings. Sometimes he has to make midnight trips to the hospital. Sometimes it's December and he disappears on the 1st and reappears just after Christmas.* He's always been committed to me being at home. Even when I start hyperventilating and threatening to get a job at In & Out. I'm pretty thankful that he insists on making a great deal of sacrifices so that I can be home with the boys.

5. He's level headed. I'm not. It's a necessary balance.

6. He sees the best in people. He gives them the benefit of the doubt. Very rarely does he ever talk negatively about anyone. I hope that this quality is slowly rubbing off on me because just yesterday I had a really nasty conversation in my head regarding a Walmart worker. (In fairness to me, I used the express checkout. She scanned things more than once and, when my total was quite a bit more than I was expecting and I showed her the errors she got annoyed with me and told me to go to Customer Service because there, "isn't a thing I can do about it." People make mistakes. I'm the worst offender. But at least apologize instead of acting like it's my fault that you double scanned things. Whew. See what I mean. Troy would never write something like that.)

7. He supports me. If I want to do something, he tells me to go for it. If I don't want to do something, he backs me up--unless, say, I don't want to pay the bills. Then he threatens to do it himself and, well, I'm a total control freak and I get hives just thinking about not knowing whether or not we'll have electricity tomorrow. He stands behind me when I succeed and when I fail. He listens when I cry, talk incessantly, whine, etc.

Nothing about this marriage is itchy. Seven years feels like fifty and like one day all rolled into the safety of my head on his shoulder and my heart in his hand. And I wouldn't change one minute of the past 84 months. Well, alright, in the interest of full disclosure, I'd probably have sold the house a year before the market crashed. But other than that...

I love you, Troy. You're pretty much my lobster. And you don't have to say it just 'cause I did.

*I might be exaggerating. But only a little.