Today is happy __th birthday for Theresa (you fill in the blank – I sure am not going to!!).
So how exactly does one write a little birthday greeting for the one that he loves? Should it be funny? Witty? Silly? Sober and sensitive? Clever? I don’t know. So, let me bumble on and see what comes onto this sheet. That is the magic of the keyboard – one can begin without knowing what the end will be, and look back and be amazed (sometimes at his cleverness, and sometimes at his stupidity – only the doing will tell).
Theresa is beautiful and sensitive. She also likes things to be orderly and predictable. I will never understand why she
agreed to marry me. I could never offer her predictability or normalcy in her life. Still, I think that there is a bit of the unpredictable (and dare I say “rebel”) in Theresa. True, it is buried pretty deeply under her desire for the status quo, none-the-less it sometimes peaks its head out to sniff the air. I love it in her!
Did I mention that my wife and friend is beautiful! Theresa is not only the most beautiful person that I know physically, but there is an inner beauty and nobleness with which she walks and conducts herself that captures ones eye, and makes him catch his breath.
Theresa has left much to follow me. I don’t tell her often enough, but I do love her for it, and deeply appreciate what she has been willing to do out of her love for me. She is a person who loves her children, grandchildren and friends deeply. It has not been easy for her to leave all of these behind and follow me to Mexico and beyond. In exchange I have offered her little physical comfort or usual friendships in return. She has been willing to shoulder the heat, the lack of English speaking friends, separation from our family, and the unusual living conditions in the understanding that there is a bigger purpose for us being here. Again Theresa, I too often have neglected to tell you that I recognize your willingness to do this for me, and I thank you for it – no, I love you for it!
Theresa is one of the best teachers that I know. It exudes from her pores, and fills the room whenever she has a captive audience. Probably the times when I have seen her the happiest is when she is preparing for a class, or teaching. Her students love her, and she loves teaching them. It is beautiful to watch as she looses herself into the art – and it is an art. Similarly music can perhaps be mathematically learned and preformed, but if it has no soul it is flat and dead, and comes across lifeless and uninspired. In the same way I believe that teaching is a genius with which one is born – or not. I, for my part, have a degree in teaching, but I am not a teacher. Creativity and the art of teaching flows like liquid joy out of Theresa’s inner core. It is beautiful!
I doubt that Theresa and I will get old. Age, after all, is an inner thing. One is only old when he or she thinks old 
thoughts, and takes on the persona of “old”. I have known people who are younger than I, but who have taken on “old”, and are therefore old men and women. It is true, Theresa and I will age, but I doubt that we will get “old”. Theresa does not think that way, and I certainly do not. We will age gracefully together but remain young and vibrant, looking forward to what is ahead and not bogged down with what was behind. However, as we do get older I am so very happy to do so with my best friend by my side.
Theresa, I love you.
Happy Birthday!
