The Man Behind The Myth

This is a personal post. So if you have the patience to put up with it, I appreciate it. If not, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

Today is my husband’s birthday.

So rather than talk about you, or me, I’m going to talk about him today.

And yes, referencing myself as a “myth” is coming it a bit strong, since I’m neither the Goddess of Love, nor the Earth Goddess, nor the Mother Goddess. I’m just me. But it made for a good headline… right?

My husband and I “met” online 13 years ago. I know that is passé nowadays, but think back to 1998; if you were exploring online dating in any way, shape or form, you were a peculiar creature. Not to mention it just wasn’t done, let alone heard of, in India (which is where I’m from and lived at the time). But as fate would have it, we “met” even though he was in California and I was in India, liked each other, and one thing led to another and he asked me to marry him.

Over email.

And then over the telephone (because I told him I wouldn’t believe it until I heard it from his mouth).

And we met in person 10 days before our wedding.

Which was in India.

Which wonderful country he had never traveled to before.

I could regale you with the entire story of our courtship, but I’ll save that for another time (I think there’s a novel, or at least a movie, in there).

There are many things that strike me as quite wonderful about my husband, but perhaps the most wonderful is the absolute and implicit faith he has in the people he loves… and that includes me.

I mean, he flew halfway around the world to marry a woman he had never even met!

When I got my green card (I’ve now been an American citizen for 3+ years) and moved to the US – the first time I’d ever been in this country – he never pushed me to get a job or earn my keep, as it were. He said, “Do what makes you happy.”

It made me happy to work, so I did.

When I was faced with the choice of being incredibly unhappy in my job … or giving it up … he said, “Do what makes you happy, and we’ll figure out the rest.”

And somehow, we did.

When I was given the incredible opportunity to revamp the PR function for a major non-profit organization – which also meant commuting to New York City from DC and staying there for two-three days a week – I was worried about how it might impact him and our marriage. He said, “How can you not do this?”

So I did.

When one of our dearly-loved pets died in horrendous circumstances – while I was in NYC for said job – he picked up the pieces. And he said, “We’ll get through this.”

And we did.

When I left my previous job, and was worrying about what would happen next, he asked, “Why don’t you just do your own thing?”

So I did.

I don’t want you to think I don’t have a mind of my own. Far from it; I am very opinionated pigheaded self-aware fill in the blank _____

But when we share our lives with someone else, we want to make sure that the decisions we make about our own lives will not affect them adversely.

And it is a measure of their greatness that these people – these wonderful people we come across, and choose to share our lives with – don’t just focus on what’s best for them, but what’s best for you, me and us.

If I have accomplished anything thus far … and that is up for debate! … it would not have been possible without the utter and implicit faith, hope and love that my husband shows me, day in and day out.

So today, I want to say “thank you.”

Thank you to my husband for that faith. Thank you, for that hope. Thank you for that love.

Thank you for who you are, who you have been, who you shall be.

For without that, I am nothing.

As an extra-special birthday gift, my husband gently suggested it would be nice if I stayed off any form of digital media today. What a concept, huh?! So I apologize in advance for responding late to any comments, but I know you’ll understand.