Today is my wife’s birthday, and it causes me to reflect on the extraordinary people we get to share life with. Sandy and I have been together since we were eighteen years old. She is without doubt the great love of my life, and I am humbled by the fact that she chooses to spend her life with me.
I want to say words that sum up who she is, but whatever I come up with seems inadequate. How do you reduce a unique human being to mere words? How can a few sentences capture the depth and breadth of who a person is?
What I can say is that my life would have been much diminished had Sandy not been part of it. She has been my friend, counsellor, companion, sounding board, and supporter; she has patiently listened to my ravings, gently (and sometimes not so gently) been my reality check; we have laughed together, cried together, fought together, made up together; she has graced me with her wisdom, her laughter, her fierce determination (do not be fooled by her gentle manner), her compassion, her generosity, and her time; she is to me a source of grace, love, hope, and encouragement.
In her I am reminded that the greatest gift we can offer to each other and to the world is ourselves, that we are each one of us quite extraordinary beings, that as we nurture our better selves we possess the power to help one another plumb the riches that life has to offer and traverse the challenges it poses, and that in the offering of ourselves we help others become the very best version of themselves they can be.