the boyfriend

Thirty-two years ago today, The Boyfriend was born. I had to wait 31 of those years (plus 2 months and 6 days) to meet him. What a tragedy… But at least I met him and can now tell you ten reasons (among many and in no particular order) why I’m not letting him go.

1. He is very smart. Smarter than yours truly. Smarter than that person who was first in your class. So smart that sometimes you have to look up a word he uses in a casual e-mail but totally play it off like you knew what it meant the whole time.

2. He’s quite good-looking. If you’ve seen him, you can vouch for that. Nice hands and eyes and runner’s legs and crooks that I tuck into nicely. And the bonus of not having funky boy feet.

3. He’s responsible, dependable, reliable. A person you can trust. A person you know will be faithful and honest.

4. He’s supportive. He’ll step up when he knows I’m stressed or overwhelmed or overworked and suddenly my lawn is mowed or my dishwasher is unloaded or my hand is held or my back is rubbed or my ear is full of kind words.

5. He gets to kiss me whenever he wants and vice versa. And, thankfully, that’s pretty often.

6. He makes me feel safe and calm.

7. He wants to work at making sure we have a strong relationship down the road.

8. He works hard—at his job and in life.

9. He values volunteering. And he does purely selfless things that make the world just a little bit better than he found it—a stray shopping cart is now returned, an overhanging limb that damaged his truck is now on the ground so that it won’t damage others’, a top-shelf grocery item is now in the hands of a not-so-tall stranger.

10. He makes life much more complete and worthwhile. He opens up the whole world for one little country girl, allowing her to see the future—with him alongside—and be excited about it.