W.W.

 

When I met her, she had a list of 85 guys she had met or dated or been friendly with.  I had only dated about 8 girls.  At the beginning of our freshman year, we were both 18.  Now she is 70.

 

I am thankful to have known her for all that time.  As a friend said, we practically raised each other. We have explored religion and God together.  I have eaten her cooking for decades and lived in the house she kept and designed and redesigned.  I have worn clothes she made and altered to fit my short legs and big neck.

 

We raised two girls and saw one of them slip into mental illness and death while the other has gone on a full life, marriage and grandmotherhood.  We have enjoyed grandchildren and great grandchildren together.  We have traveled to Europe twice and to Australia and New Zealand. 

 

I love her body, her brains and her spirit.  A person can exhibit all sorts of wonders but not catch your attention.  It wasn’t until a group at a marital enrichment asked me to say what she is like, that I realized how hard it is to do.  She has Finnish, Swedish and Spanish ancestors.  How can anybody acquire that mixture?  She paints and is a potter.  She has published poems and spiritual statements but she has an article on how to move a library’s location.  She lifts weights and plays the piano, the French horn and sings.  She gardens.  She climbs mountains.

 

She is a very careful thinker, speaker and writer and she will have many corrections and demurs to this post.  You just wait and see.