Admired and Looked Up To.

I think it's, truly, the greatest compliment to hear someone say "I admire you." "I am really inspired by you." "How do you do what you do?"  "I wish I could be more like you."

It makes my heart swell a little. It makes me more than proud. And without seeming, well a bit conceited, it makes me want to scream - I KNOW!!!

NO, I am not talking about ME...silly....I'm talking about my husband.

You see, I truly admire him. I look up to him. I am inspired by him.

I have been ever since becoming his girl at 15. I have always been there. Watching him. Supporting him. Cheering him on. AND he in turn has given me a wonderful life that includes three wonderful sons that are following in his footsteps. Three sons that are inspired by him. Admire him. Look up to him. AND love him just as much as I do.

He has worked so very hard to follow his dreams. To get to where he is today. AND still has so many more goals he wants to accomplish. He has never given up. Never thrown in the towel. He has always been strong and sacrificed so much to keep moving ahead.

I remember, as a very young wife, telling my mother "he is just SO driven, I'm not sure he'll ever just stop and be happy." Today, at 41 years of age and 24+ years of marriage, I can't believe I was EVER concerned about having such a driven soul-mate.

Why am I typing this today? Well, while I was un-packing those boxes mentioned in my last post,  I found a little journal from Dec 1991. There were NO blogs then. Only little books of paper with not-so-strong locks on them. Papers with written words, that when read this weekend made me cry.

So many memories. So long ago. Such sacrifices. Such chaos. Such hope for the future. Hope for a future with more money. Less bills. More time to spend with our little boys - there were only two then. Wishes for our future in Washington. Plans to move forward into the unknown.

Those were scary times. Tough times. But, we always had faith in US. In our little family of four. There was always lots of LOVE and lots of TRUST.

I love you, Phillip.

Happy EVERYDAY!!!

Your best friend, 

Me


**photo: Us in Spring 1987. Pre-kiddos - well, actually, we just found out we were expecting....