Today is my husband’s birthday. I never know what to give him because he is usually interested in books, games, gadgets or recordings that I’ve never heard of. It’s impossible to surprise him with that perfect gift that he didn’t even know existed. Many times he will buy himself things that he wants and then give them to me to wrap. And the whole problem is magnified when Christmas rolls around a few weeks later.
But this year I am keeping a blog! So I would like to take a moment and share a little about him, to honor him on his birthday.
Frank loves to laugh and loves to make other people laugh. His dad and brothers love puns and plays on words, and they have a stock of the old standards that get trotted out whenever there are family gatherings. For the first decade or so of our marriage, I would laugh at a joke even though I’d heard it several times, because I had not remembered the punch line. I admire the creativity and wit needed to think up such jokes, and I laugh every time. His ability to be lighthearted in these past three months has been a reminder that we only lost things, and what is most important in our lives is still with us.
He is a wonderful father. When the boys were babies, he was tender and caring, involved in every aspect of their care. He thought up fun songs to sing and games to play, and as they grew, there more games and songs. Family trips were full of improvised stories, listening to music, or making our own. And there were so many trips. Every year, in the days between Christmas and New Year’s Day, we would make the “Annual Christmas Tour”, visiting my family in South Jersey and his in Hanover, PA. He loves to plan trips, and he took us to places near and far, including England. Our first trip overseas was in 1994. We landed in Glasgow, got off the plane, rented a car, and then he drove it in a country where vehicles are supposed to keep to the left. He learned quickly, and I was once again reminded of what an intelligent adventurer I had married.
Now that he is a grandpa, it such a blessing to relive the days when our boys were little and to see our grandsons loving the same qualities in him that our kids did. He is always ready to play and he knows just the right combination of rough-housing and gentleness for each little boy.
Early in our marriage, he began calling me “Angel-Face”. At Christmas, he gives me angel ornaments, including some very exquisite ones made from Swarovski crystal. They were not broken in the flood, and have been cleaned and packed safely for when we decorate our new downstairs for Christmas next year. He has also given me many beautiful handmade things from his travels, most of which survived the flood intact. He is very good at buying me clothes. He loves to shop, and I hate it, so he does almost all of the Christmas shopping each year. And the wrapping. He not only remembers every anniversary and birthday, but he looks forward to them, planning how we will celebrate.
During these past months, he has been such a loving husband, taking care of all the details of recovery while I have been overwhelmed with emotion and confusion. I cry and I yell and he takes it all in stride. He is usually in pain from the physical labor, but he never complains.
When I look back at what a silly and naive girl I was when we got married, I realize I did not know Frank very well. I was definitely in love with him, and still am, but I have spent the past 32 years trying to get to know him and love him for who he is, and not for what he can do for me. My prayer has been, and continues to be, that I can become the wife and friend that he needs me to be.
Happy Birthday, Hon! 
meredithjourney 