This Is A First.

Many times I've said, "This person is not the love of my life."

As much as I like all the people I write about, and I do like them quite a lot, no one compares to my wife. I have in the past not wanted to blog about her in this sphere because there's no way I could do justice to describe her. However, I realized that I can spend lots of time talking about how great she is. So all you ooey gooey touchy feely readers of my blog, be prepared that I've now come to terms with including the occasional post about my wife. I think these will be shorter because I have more of them to do, and I feel that these should be more specific rather than long and tangent laden like my other blogs.So I want to talk about three of the things that I really loved about my wife at first.

First, this may come as a shock to many of you, but I happen to tell a lot of stories. I talk a lot, and when I talk, I tend to forget that sometimes people don't know who "Amber, Bones, Jess, Q-Bear," or any of the hundreds of people who have impacted my life are. I can't just rattle off names like "Sullivan's, McClelland's, Ogles'," and expect people to connect the dots of who these people are that have spanned the whole course of my life.

With one exception. From the very first date we went on, and ever after, my wife Natalie has remembered my stories, and laughed at them. When I would tell stories later and say, "So I was out with Danny on this horrible double date" she would say, "Danny's the one who you do the pistol thing with, right?" I love that, and really need it.

Secondly, some people think it's rude or something to consider someone a "trophy wife." Natalie really is. My friends who don't know her say, "tell me a little about Natalie." So I always give off a massive list that scratches the surface of her accomplishments. It goes something like this: "She plays viola, violin and piano. She was a national qualifier in speech and debate. She dances clog, ballet, ballroom and a little bit of other things. She choreographed an award winning piece. She was the top of her class. She's had two A minuses in her LIFE, and none of them came in college. She's beautiful, and funny. She acts, sings, is my best friend and wins at games ALL The time." That's just the basics of my complex and wonderful wife.

The third thing is something that has happened later, but it makes me so proud every time I hear it. I have, on a couple of occasions, had friends tell me that they want their future marriage to be like ours. That doesn't happen without my best friend.

So for today, that's the little bit you get to know about my wife. More to come, you know, all in good time.