What should you give your wife for her birthday?

I'm one of these guys who married up.  My wife of 25 plus years is perfect for me and yesterday was her birthday.  Being empty-nesters and with our kids in other states, it was a pretty subdued celebration.

There was our aging beagle, Snoopy, and me, her aging husband.  We started the day with breakfast at one of our favorite places, Flap Jack, where we had baked oatmeal and for supper, we went to the mall where we ate at the Red Cedar Grill.  My presents for her didn't seem to fit the occasion and why I'm so happy she was born and why I'm happy to be married to her.

I wish I could have presented her with one of those fancy scrapbooks that make the past come alive with pictures and relevant mementos.  Here are some of my favorites and they are part of an archive of memories that makes her so special:

• Her reaction when I told her that I had just gotten fired from a political job at the state legislature.  I got the boot and I knew that she was shopping at the supermarket with our young daughter.  I went there and my eyes must have said what happened.  With a big, "I'm sorry" and an "I love you" smile, she asked what I wanted for supper that night.  No panic, just support.

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• Her reaction when the doctor in the delivery room told her that if she pushed real hard, our daughter would be born quickly.  With a fierce determination that I've seen in few people, she pushed with such an intensity that our daughter Krista was born.  She started pushing at 5:30 a.m. and we saw our daughter at 5:44 a.m.  I had never really walked on clouds before that.
• Her reaction to me getting hurt inside of prison where I was serving as a volunteer.  Get this, on the morning of the day where my daughter was graduating from high school as salutatorian, I led a group of volunteers inside a major state prison for a basketball game.  On a very hot day, I passed out and broke my ankle in multiple places.  It had to be put back together.  My wife without flinching got a wheelchair and met me at the school where I was taken full of morphine.  I saw my daughter graduate.  Then we went to the hospital where I had surgery.  She was there the whole time.  Never complained.
• Our sharing a real God-moment and a cup of hot pea soup at Glacier Bay in Alaska.  We were celebrating our 25th anniversary a couple years early by taking a cruise to Alaska.  When our ship took us to Glacier Bay, we were stuck to the rail.  The beauty, the solitude and the immensity of the glaciers was overwhelming.  You could see God through his handiwork.  They served us the hot pea soup while we were at the railing.
• Being with our sick baby daughter in the hospital while she was recovering from the flu.  We took the train to grandma and grandpa's in the Chicago area and Krista got sick.  She got the flu and had to go to the hospital during a major blizzard and cold spell.  We stayed in the hospital with her.  It was a shared moment.  I will never forget it.

The list of memories could go on and on. I love being married to her and I love being part of a family with her in it.  My life has never been better.  Only thing that could top it would be heaven.

Thank-you God for her birthday.