Happy Valentine's Day, to my Wife

The challenge here will be to avoid this little note devolving into clichés or, worse yet, movie lines.

But I do want to write a little something to tell you how much I love you. Robert Kirby, a humorist for the Salt Lake Tribune, says such notes need to include mention of how wretched the man would truly be if it were not for the woman in his life, and I have to agree that’s true. And it’s not because of all you do – and you do a lot for me, and for us, and even for the kids and even though we probably drive you nuts. I would be pretty wretched without you, even if you didn’t do anything – but that’s not license to slack off. If you’ve taught me anything it’s that husband and wife need to cooperate and work together in order to make life worth living.

And to honor your practice of providing bulleted lists of information as you do your grad school assignments, I’ll make a list of my own here, outlining how you make my life a lot less wretched than it would be otherwise (and I promise no Simpsons quotes):

• You’re never idle. Maybe you don’t regard that as a plus, but I know you’re always working to make our house a wonderful place to be, for me and for the kids.
• You’re smart. I love talking with you, getting teased by you and even (sometimes) being called on the carpet by you, because you’re right.
• Whatever you take on, you do well. I see that in how you prepare for Christmas, how you tackle your classes and your church callings, and how you tackle just about everything life throws at you.
• You put up with me and my shortcomings. And I really want to use a Simpsons quote here, but I promised I wouldn’t.
• You do more than put up with my shortcomings. You help me improve. Daily.
• You do more than put up with my shortcomings. You inspire me to challenge myself, and to become a better person.

That’s not all, of course, but I don’t want to prattle on.

I love you, my dear. That’s the long and short of it.