Mondays are for Gretchen Ramblings…

Today is the annual celebration of the birth of my wife. One score and 17 years ago, the world was made a more wonderful place with the gifting to us all of Gretchen McKenzie. In honor of this, the anniversary of her triumphal entry into the world, I offer you Gretchen ramblings, an assorted potpourri of Gretchen musings.

Things started off well for Gretchen and I. She asked me out on our first date (I mean how could she resist) and we double dated with some friends. The night consisted of  bacon cheeseburgers and milkshakes  at Ed Debevic’s and  laser tag. First impression – this one may be a keeper. I made sure I secured our next outing together before the night was concluded. It was really a very good investment strategy shown by Gretchen. She paid for that first date, got me interested and probably didn’t pay for another date for the next two years. I am a sucker for laser tag and bacon.

My wife is a hoss. She may appear too stylish to be tough but that is untrue. I have born witness to many episodes of her out toughing men and women alike. I have never been the recipient of her right hook, but her practice swings look vicious.

You can ask our former youth group students about that. She used to reek havoc on the boys during brutal games of penguin football. I think she made some of those high school boys cry with her deft moves and vicious stiff arm! Her legend still lingers in various youth rooms across the country. They speak of her with hushed and reverent tones.

My wife is loyal. I don’t mean that she just holds to her feelings, I mean she guards those she loves at all costs. There is an old school sense of duty wrapped up into her loyalty. It is the kind of duty and loyalty I see in both of our fathers, a remnant of previous generations.

The Amish, polygamists,  WWII, Hasidic Judaism, David Bowie, The Tudors, and People Magazine, Gretchen is fascinated by all but one of these things.

My wife and I both have this strange phenomenon of personality where the older we get the more we accentuate and celebrate the heritage of where we grew up. Maybe it is because life keeps taking us to increasingly unexpected places, but my wife keeps getting more Southern the longer we live in the North. It’s endearing.

The best part of being married to Gretchen is that our story keeps getting better. I was totally madly in love with 22 year old Gretchen when we got married. But 22 year old Gretchen (despite my wife’s longing for her youthful skin) can’t hold a candle to the woman I am married to today. Call it luck, good decision making on both our parts, the grace of God sanctifying us both through marriage or whatever you want, but my wife is a way more intriguing, impressive, and Godly woman today than she was when we got married. I think I am going to stick around and see how this whole thing turns out.

My wife can talk football. This is unbelievably sexy. I would really struggle with a woman who couldn’t share some of my too passionate love for sports. Whenever my wife critiques a formation, talks about a player- where he went to college and who he is married to, or lists her favorite coaches based on their attractiveness it makes me wonder how I got so lucky.

Whether it was God that put us together, a chance of circumstance, or proximity and attractiveness, the unexpected result of our pairing is a dominant trivial pursuit team (seriously bring it on people), two children who are going to be a legacy of blessing in this world, a home where friends are loved and discipled, a marriage that continues to endure through the grace of God in us, so many years of laughter, experiences I never could have dreamed of and a life of more privilege and blessing that any could hope for. If that isn’t a reason to celebrate someone’s birth, I don’t know what is.

Happy Birthday Gretchen, I love you!