Kelly Verdeck Photography

Photo Friday: The Greatest Thing

// July 30th, 2010 // Family Lifestyle, Photos

The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return.
-eden ahbez

Today is my beautiful wife’s birthday–that’s her in the photo, holding our younger daughter. I don’t have enough good photos of her, I realize–which is to say, I don’t have enough photos that show her as beautifully as I see her in my mind. We don’t have one of those ethereal, shooting-star romantic relationships, never have. But what we do have is utterly real, and I think quite remarkable. I love her thoroughly, trust her completely, and can’t imagine having anyone else at my side as we go down this winding road called life. She’s the mother of my children, which is the most exceptional gift anyone can be granted, and she fills that role with such skill and enthusiasm that I am constantly boggled. I don’t think I had any real idea what I wanted–in myself, in a mate, from life in general–until I met her, and it just felt right. It’s been almost 10 years now, and it still feels right. As a matter of fact, it feels a bit more right every day.

I used to consider myself a poet, though it was all surely cringeworthy. I used to write songs, but I’d say they were mediocre too. I wish I could write a poem or a song or find the right gift that would do justice to what I see when I look at my wife, and what I feel she’s given me. But there aren’t words, there aren’t notes, there isn’t a store that sells anything so magnificent. All I have is actions, I guess–so I hope I’m doing a good job as a husband and father, and I promise to do my best, now and always. It’s the least she deserves. I love you, baby!