It's your birthday, but we received the gift

Today is my husband's birthday. I am only going to see him for a few hours before he leaves to take our older boys to a dirt bike practice session. Yes, on his birthday. He is going to load the trailer with the bikes and all of the flotsam associated with them, and head 90 minutes south. He will then act as the bike lackey for the boys while they practice for their race on Saturday. He will do all of this having just come off of a three night stint at work. This is nothing new for him, it's how he rolls, y'all. He lives his life with our children full tilt boogie every day.

He also lives his life with me that way. I am going to say upfront that we are not romantics in the true sense of the word. We think romance is getting to sit alone together on the couch and watch Survivor. We also think romance is getting to go to the grocery store together. Oh, I know, we are unruly romantics. Try to contain your envy.

We don't say things like, "You complete me," or "You invade my soul." Sweet nothings here sound more like "I made coffee," or "I'll go in another room before I break wind." It's the little things.

I was going to get all sappy and give a bombastic monologue about the kind of man that my husband is, but that is just not me. I don't do sappy very well. I am straight forward and direct. So how do I tell you that he is the most wonderful man in the world?

How do I put into words that he is my hero? That he puts me back together when I fall apart.

How do I say that without him our lives would be void of anything meaningful, anything that makes us a family?

How do I precisely articulate how hard he works to provide for our every need so that I can stay home with the boys?

How do I accurately describe to you this man of high caliber and principle?

When I was a young teenager, heartbroken by some circumstance of life involving a boy, my mother said to me, "Somewhere, right now in this world, there is a boy growing up who is going through the exact same thing as you. You will meet that boy someday and he will be the one and you will love each other perfectly."

I did meet that boy, and we do love each other perfectly. Or as perfectly as two flawed human beings are capable of loving.

So today I say to you, Happy Birthday. You are our gift.