33 Years

Happy Birthday Joseph!!

Lest you think he was forgotten among all the race hype going on around here, he was not. I thoughtfully sent him to California last weekend in the hope of spoiling him for his birthday. I think he loved his trip and all the time he spent with his brothers and dad. He must have made an impression because my hubby left town and 2 days later his hosts had a new baby whom they named after him (well--middle-named after him...still very cool). That was pretty sweet news and my Joseph is quite proud about it.


I would totally name my kids after Joe too--I mean he is quite simply...amazing ;) Honestly, I love him so much.

One of my favorite memories of him was many years ago--about a month before our wedding. A big group of us decided to hike Timp on Labor Day. Sounded like an adventure to me and I loved spending time with Joseph doing anything so I was in. Everything started out great, it was a beautiful day and the hiking was fun--hard at times and steep, but good. And then less than half a mile from the summit I realized I was suddenly really worn out. Every step felt exhausting and I felt like I would never make it to the top. The elevation was really getting to me and I wanted to just sit down with the mountain goats and be done. I honestly thought I would just eat my lunch right there on the rocky terrain and wait for everyone else to hang out at the summit and then they would come find me on the way back down--no big deal.

This was a side of me Joseph had never seen--the defeated side. I mean we had only known each other about 9 months total and been engaged for 2. There were many, many sides of me he had yet to discover (lucky boy ;) but there I was telling him I was ready to quit--and whining about it in the process. And he didn't even flinch or react at all. He just said, "Okay. But let's just take a few more steps first." And then "let's just make it up this switchback and then we'll stop." And we continued on like that right up to the summit which was way closer than I had thought. I felt bad for being so slow but Joseph was just happy I made it up there. And I felt so relieved that he wasn't annoyed or disappointed with me. It was a pretty significant moment and he had no idea it was so revelatory for me. I loved how patient Joseph had been with me, how kind and encouraging and constant. I was not even being a cool, brave girlfriend--I was showing my true colors and he was still so good to me.

And that is how he is with everyone he loves--always kind and helpful and loyal to the core.

How did I get him to fall in love with me again? Babe--maybe you'll have to remind me ;) Love you--have a happy day.