An Ode to My Hubby

Joe and I get buried in the daily grind of school and work and parenting and to-do lists. And it's not often, certainly not often enough, that I reflect on Joe and the many reasons I am so happy I married him.

With our sixteenth anniversary quickly approaching, it seems only appropriate that I thank Joe for all the things he does—for me, for our children, and for our family as a whole.

• Joe mows the lawn. Always. I've never mowed the lawn in all the years we've been married. He often has one of the kids on the tractor with him, just because they like being with him.
• Joe takes out the garbage. Always. Unless he's out of town, Joe always manages the garbage. No easy feat with our long driveway.
• Joe plows the driveway. It's Joe's thing. He plows, he shovels. Bless his heart.
• Joe plunges toilets. We have toilet cloggers in this house, and Joe always takes on these icky jobs.
• Joe fixes kids' toys. The pile of toys-to-fix might get big on his desk, but he always gets to the toys and makes them well.
• Joe does Cub Scouts with William. I've never been to a meeting. It's a Dad-William thing. How cool is that? Lucky boy, that William.
• Joe picks up the slack when I have a migraine. Fortunately, the migraines are much fewer than they used to be, but when one comes on, watch out. I'm out of commission.
• Joe leads us in family prayers in the evening, and often helps put the kids to bed.
• Joe attends Knights of Divine Mercy and St. Thomas More Society meetings, making him a better man, and setting a faithful example for all of us.
• Joe gets in there and plays with the kids—really plays with them. Board games, baseball, volleyball, target shooting activities, bonfire stories, science experiments, model construction, and general rough-housing.
• Joe attends music recitals and sports events and does a whole lot of driving to and from extracurricular activities.
• Joe cut out regular golf-playing years ago to spend more time with the family. What a guy!
• Joe works all week and then enjoys cooking on the weekends—so much so, that my cooking duties are fairly limited to weekdays. 
• Joe takes the time to teach our children. Although he does not do the regular, formal instruction in our homeschool, he is the impromptu dinner-table educator. Conversations with Dad around the dinner-table usually involve science or history. He engages the kids and makes them better people.
• Joe makes tough decisions and has even turned down lucrative client opportunities which were not compatible with his faith.
• Joe's a tough-love kind of dad, and while he might ruffle some kiddie feathers, the kids always know what's right and wrong, thanks to Joe.
• Joe puts his wife, his kids, and his Catholic faith first. The examples of this are innumerable. He is my hero. I don't know what I'd do without him.

I didn't touch on everything. How could I? Love, and the service and devotion that comes with love, cannot be boiled down to a tidy little list. This list is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the amazing Joe.

I love you, Joe! Happy (almost) sixteenth anniversary!

Here we are, sixteen years ago.

Joe, doing his thing, plowing our big ol' driveway.