How do you quantify a person? It isn't possible. There is so much that goes into a human being. (This is why stereotypes kind of work on large groups but tend to fall pretty flat on an individual basis.)
My wife, Amy, is having another birthday today which is fine and normal. What's a little different is that this year I find myself contemplating her and all the many things that make her who she is.
I am constantly impressed with the dilligence, love, and care she puts in to being a mother. Being responsible for the emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being of four small boys is no small task. (Especially when her only sibling was a sister. This means she gets the "joy" of learning "boy" on the job.) She cares and worries so very much for her children and the stress can bring her to tears and anguish of soul and mind. I hate to see the pain and anguish it brings her but if it didn't then she wouldn't be doing her job so damn well.
I love her mind and how it works. I love her logic (even when it differs from mine). I love how smart she is. She's funny too. Really funny. (Perhaps even more impressive, is that she still thinks I'm funny.) Her artistic abilities are expansive and the skill and detail she puts into her profession as a costume designer have always been impressive to me.
She's beautiful. She's always had a slightly unconventional beauty (one of the things that initially attracted me to her) and it's gotten better with age. I mean that. She gets just a little bit more beautiful every day.
If I take anything away from this moment of reverie, it's how lucky I truly am to be with someone with so many facets and depths. I know this year I'm going to do my level best to make sure she has a birthday worth what she means to me.
