Today is my wonderful wife’s 29th birthday. Her last year has been very hard as those of you who follow her blog know, and yet she always continues to be the beacon of sunshine in this pessimists’ life. I admire her so much for how she always chooses to love people no matter what. Even when I am like, “Babe, he/she is a moron!” she will scrunch up her nose and explain to me how that person has value, and you know what? She is always right.

In order to honor Heather upon entering her final year of youth (’cause yeah, it’s all down hill after thirty…I know from experience) I thought I’d make a list of but a few of the reasons why I love her. Feel free to add some in the comments section if you like, but here are mine:

After I feed Maddie in the middle of the night she always says, “I love you,” as I get back under the sheets.

She can do a funny dance that never fails to make me crack a smile.

She is the cutest woman I have ever seen…and other things too.

She is a really good singer.

Sometimes she will sing one of the songs I’ve written as she gets ready in the morning and it makes me really happy.

She changes her hair a lot, but I always think it looks awesome no matter what.

She was the prettiest bride of all time.

She checked out of the hospital against doctors orders to see Maddie when we were told our daughter wasn’t going to make it. Watching her come off the elevator and lead me into the NICU that day was the closest I have ever come to living within a “movie” scene.

She understands baseball.

She likes baseball!

When she comes home and I am watching a Giants’ game she never makes me turn it off until it is over. This may be two hours of waiting even, and when some random dude like Brian Horwitz hits a homer she will smile and say something factual like, “Wow. He just got called up, didn’t he?” even if she doesn’t give a schizzat. (NOTE: Ladies, take notice of this one! This one is very appreciated!)

If there is something I want to do that she REALLY doesn’t want to do, she will organize a day where I can go do this thing.

I am half Portuguese, and once when I visited her in New York (where she used to live) she took me to a Portuguese restaurant to eat the kind of food I hadn’t had for the twenty years since my grandparents passed.

She has truly beautiful eyes that I am so stoked she has passed on to Maddie.

She loves her friends so much she would do anything for them. This amazes me and impresses me. It’s like that Australian joke where a couple guys are out in the bush and one gets bit by a snake on his weiner while peeing. The other friend races to town where the doc tells him that the only way his friend will survive is if he sucks the venom out of his friend’s penis. Upon returning to his friend his friend asks, “What did the doctor say?” The first guy responds, “Sorry, mate. He says you’re going to die.” Dudes laugh at that joke. Heather, however, would suck out the venom. Heather is a great friend. Note to Heather…if it was one of your girfriends who got bit on the chaach you can save her and tell me about it later. If it was a dude…please let him die.

She always looks to me before making a decision…not in a creepy 1950s patriarchal way, but in a “I love my my husband and respect him so I will get his opinion” sort of way. This doesn’t mean she always does what I say, in fact she rarely does, but she does listen to my advice first no matter what which is appreciated.

She admires me (and I admire her.)

She has never said a direct insult to me. She will tell me she is disapointed in me, but never directly insult me. To some this may seem unimpressive, but to others this will seem VERY impressive.

She is funny (how did I not get to this earlier?)

There is a friend of a friend who always kept saying she wanted to meet a “good egg.” She’s now engaged, so I hope she has, but I must say, I am married to the definition of a “good egg.” Honestly, she is an amazing person, and I love her.

Happy Birthday, Smokey!