A Memo from Nate

This evening I'm typing on behalf of all those that have married above themselves. (So pretty much any man that has married a woman.)

Occasionally when mired down in the mind-numbingly mundane routine of mouse clicking my way to the next paycheck, I will surface from the sea of ones and zeros and think just how lucky I am to have met my wife.

A great scoutmaster once told me that you should always leave a campsite better than you found it...This is practical advice that my wife has taken to a celestialized level. She always leaves ANY place better than she found it. I'm often embarrassed when I arrive at a family or social event without my wife and parents/siblings/life-long friends will forgo the usual pleasantries toward me for the expected question..."Where's Maria?" Make no mistake about this. They do not ask this question to be polite. (The subtext here is less than subtle. They are saying "Why do you even bother to show up without the person that we've all been waiting for you to marry to justify the hundreds of hours we've wasted on you.) People look forward to seeing her like an amateur chili judge looks forward to cool liquid.

I can think of no better compliment to give my wife than to say that children adore her. They are drawn to her as powerfully as an appropriately powerful metaphor is eluding me right now. I see pictures of the Savior with children gathered around him and I imagine that these little ones feel something of His love in Maria's presence. My son is a true "Mama's boy". I have a perfectly goofy smile on my face as I type this because I love how much she loves our son.

I guess our relationship is a bit of a paradox. When I compare myself to my beautiful, charitable, kind, athletic, loving wife...you could say that I've been left wanting (That's the nicest way I could think to put that). Yet she makes me feel like I'm the best version of Nate possible. Maybe I'm just "exceptional by association".

Most people that will take the time to read this will undoubtedly (and correctly) point out that I have fallen well short of the minimum standard adjective requirement to describe how wonderful Maria is. I just wanted to let her and y'all know that I know that.