An Open Letter to My Husband on His Birthday

Dear David—

Happy birthday! As we age together I am reminded daily of how good our life is and how fortunate I am that we found one another. As I’ve shared, this Ohio farm girl had no idea her life would turn out to be this wonderful.

I thought I would not marry. Oh, I had plenty of boyfriends back in the day. Even some proposals. But I didn’t want to end up like so many of my friends and parents of my friends. Divorced. Or worse, M&M, married and miserable.

I have no doubt my parents loved one another, but they had a weird way of showing it sometimes. They could go from canoodling on the couch one night to screaming at one another the next. Not a terrific role model on how to be a good spouse, though I have thoroughly adopted the canoodling modeling.

But it will end. Because that’s the way of it. I will leave our relationship or you will. We’ve talked about how the best scenario is we leave together. At the same time. Without pain and suffering and lingering, of course. Just, BAM, we’re dead at the same time.

But a part of me thinks you will be the surviving partner from our life together. And all I have ever wanted for you is to be happy and loved. My birthday present to you today is my blessing for you finding someone to spend your life with.

Find someone who is funny, smart, interesting, and interested in what you like. Find someone who will nag you about the good stuff and let lie the other junk.

Find someone our children like and respect and, I hope, come to love. And she should enjoy cooking, too, since you enjoy eating. I’ll leave her my David’s Oatmeal-Cran-Pecan cookie recipe.

Find someone who can play Crossword Cubes with you and win sometimes. Find someone who understands when you’ve had a rough day at Pickleball and bring it home.

Find someone who can be silly and serious, impulsive and restrained, curious and reflective. Find someone who can “read” you so she knows what is going on behind your quiet demeanor.

Maybe she’ll even be tidier than I. You could get lucky. It could happen!

Love you to infinity and beyond!  xoxo

P.S. Remember that I’ll be back. So look for me in the sparkle of a new baby’s eyes!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate your sharing it. Thank you.

Facebook: Angelica French posts about an unusual birthday present: giving permission to a husband to find a new love. What are the conditions she set? http://bit.ly/2hCEu7r

Twitter: An unusual birthday present is giving permission to a husband to find a new love. What are the conditions @RomanceRighter set? http://bit.ly/2hCEu7r