Anika

My wife is the greatest.  No, seriously, she is.

Her birthday was on Thursday and I kinda let it slide.  I mean, I said "happy birthday" to her and let her buy whatever she wanted (I can always eat less), but we didn't really do anything for or with her.  Not on her special day.  So though I'm a bit late, I thought I'd give some anecdotes of our 6+ years together.

We met at Southern Virginia University.  Nobody would have ever though we'd end up there.  We did, and met the first week there.  I was a 26-year-old with a rule about dating anybody under 20.  She was 18.  My rule got shattered.  Ironically, another gal wanted me to break my rule for her, but I wouldn't.  She turned 20 about two weeks after Anika and I got attached at the hip.  I don't think she liked my wife much.  I don't gravitate towards strangers, but I did on one day at lunch in the SVU cafeteria.  I sat right next to her.  And mocked her.  Mercilessly.  And she laughed.  I guess nobody had any ingenuity at SVU, because what I was saying was original.  Anika got the nickname "Arbor Day" during that first meeting. 

A day or so later, we found out that we were struggling with differing sections of the same class.  (We love Dr. Cluff!)  So we decided to study together.  We acted out parts of old books, and had a blast.  The Iliad by Homer was the first major work that we read together.  There really was a lot of back story to act out for very little action, but it was fun.  One day, as we took a break from Homer, she started talking and crying about a member of her family that was causing her grief.  Girls crying really put guys in a tough spot.  Or at least it should.  Especially if the gal is one that he doesn't really know.  A gentleman will do what he needs to in order to calm the woman, all without either offending her or making it seem as though he has undue feeling toward her.  I must not've been a gentleman, because I apparently made it seem as though I had feelings for her.  Then I realized that I did.  When the time came for us to split up and go to bed, I found myself returning her kiss.

Wait, what?

Apparently I grabbed her arm and kissed her.  I don't remember that part.  I remember realizing that I was kissing her.  We split up awkwardly that night, and then when we met for breakfast the next morning, we knew that we were an item. 

I tried to pass on my love of hockey, and was moderately successful, with some major bumps in the road.  Back then, there was a team in Roanoke.  The Roanoke Valley Vipers.  Their mascot looked like Barney the dinosaur.  One game, we got a free T-shirt and great seats below the lower bowl.  We had to follow Barney to our seats.  It was humiliating.  Luckily, there were only like 12 people at the game to mock me as I walked by. 

During our first game, though, we knew that we were serious.  In fact, we were already talking about marriage and those kinds of things.  You'd think I would know better.  Note to kids: always take your dates to things that you like if the things that you like are more important than your date.  Luckily for me, my date was more important.  Lucky, because we sat right on the glass.  Great seats, right?  Not so much.  Though we could literally put our feet on the ice, all Anika saw was 6'4" brutes smashing each other into the glass.  Sometime during the 1st period, I opened my fat mouth.  "Wouldn't it be great if our kids played?"

Wrong.  Thing.  To Say.

I don't think we were on talking terms throughout the 2nd period.

For the third, though, I had a stroke of genius.  I took her away from the glass where we could see the play develop and the skill it takes to play football players on ice.  She started to like the game.  Soon enough, I could see that she was starting to pick up on what was going on.  She was cheering for the away team because they were assigned to warm up on our side of the ice and they were playing with a kid through the glass.  So her team forced overtime.  Overtime led to a shootout.  The home team won on the last shot.  My poor wife was on the verge of tears. 

Over a hockey game.

(YES! *fist pump*)

Anika, from those early memories to four kids (and two degrees!) later, I love you.  I couldn't have asked for a better wife.  Thank you for saying yes before I ever asked, because that made things WAY easier. 

I can't wait to see what life will bring us next.  Whatever it is, I'm glad I'll face it with you.  Happy (late) birthday!