S,
It’s a big day for you, and you won’t let me bake you cake or buy you something shiny and new, and so I dedicate this post as an homage to you, the man I love so much.
Thank you for being so kind, coming to fix my computer for the second time after doing it the year previous. Thank you for breaking the honor code to spend time with me sometimes. Thank you for massaging my calf while we studied. Thank you for agreeing to go to ward prom with me. Thank you for being so naive and not realizing how many girls were interested in you.
Thank you for encouraging me in my weight loss efforts from the time we started dating, and now into our marriage. Thank you for hiking the Y and giving me a kiss whenever I said I was tired and wanted to stop. Thank you for putting up with my desire to take pictures of everything.
Thank you for being someone my family could support me being married to (I think they like you better than they like me).
Thank you for placating my desire for a meaningful engagement story.
And for letting me plan my dream wedding.
Thank you for your hotness.
Thank you for deluxe date night. Thank you for the ways you’ve changed and grown with me as I develop a passion for real food and issues surrounding diet and nutrition. Thank you for your flexibility. Thank you for listening to my arguments when we disagree. Thank you for putting me in my place when I am wrong.
Thank you for agreeing to move forward with babies and parenthood, even though we had no idea what to expect or how to prepare.
Thank you for my home birth, an experience that changed my life. Thank you for those hours you spent in the birthing tub filled with urine-tainted water. Thank you for holding my hand, for telling me a thousand times that I could do it and how proud you were of me.
Thank you for trying really, really hard to be a good dad. Thank you for all the diapers you’ve changed, bottles you’ve prepared, smiles and laughter you’ve elicited, hugs you’ve doled out, trips up and down from the car with a baby in your arms, and a million other things that relate to parenthood. Thank you for being a united front with me in our parenting attempts. Thank you for the many mornings you’ve left our warm bed to care for the baby so I could sleep in. Thank you for being the kind of man I hope our son grows up to be.
Thank you for taking me to Poland and Europe. Thank you for making me more logical and rational, for expanding my world view. Thank you for working so hard to support our family so I can stay home. Thank you for supporting me during times when I’m stressed, even though most of those times are because of Jenna Cole or That Wife, two things I devote a ridiculous amount of time to for no profit (yet).
Thank you for the things that are far too private to share with the world. Thank you for your hotness (it needs to be said twice).
Thank you for joining the Church over 10 years ago. Thank you for the hard work you do in your callings and for honoring your priesthood. Thank you for the times when you force me to realize that what I want for our future is far more important than what I want right now. Thank you for being my sounding board when things get crazy online. Thank you for the late nights where we can’t seem to get to sleep because we have so much to talk about. Thank you for holding me close and letting me sob into your chest when things get hard. Thank you for being the kind of man I wouldn’t want to live a single day without.
I’ll keep my promise, but it will be a miserable existence without you.
Happy Birthday EC
July 4th, 2011 on 3:00 am
Incredibly sweet. Happy birthday!
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July 4th, 2011 on 3:35 am
Beautiful post Jenna! Happy Birthday TH!
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July 4th, 2011 on 7:59 am
A beautiful post Jenna and a big Happy Birthday to your husband! x
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July 4th, 2011 on 8:18 am
Forget cakes or presents, this is a beautiful present to your husband. Beautifully written Jenna.
“Thank you for putting up with my desire to take pictures of everything.”
I could totally say the same thing to my husband.
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July 4th, 2011 on 8:38 am
Beautiful. Everything a husband should be…your best friend. And thank goodness for eternity.
I love this part: “Thank you for putting me in my place when I am wrong.” because that’s exactly what my husband does for me, and I need a man like that!
Happy birthday to your husband! Hope you both have a wonderful day!
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July 4th, 2011 on 8:47 am
Oh Jenna! Happy birthday to TH! Thank you for writing such a sweet, honest, memorable post that I think most women can relate to.
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July 4th, 2011 on 8:47 am
So sweet! Happy Birthday, TH!
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July 4th, 2011 on 9:14 am
Happy birthday TH!!
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July 4th, 2011 on 9:22 am
Happy birthday TH! Have a great 4th of July!
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July 4th, 2011 on 10:47 am
What a sweet, lovely post. Happy birthday to him!
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July 4th, 2011 on 11:26 am
Awww, Happy Birthday TH! What a great tribute post to your hubby. Also, I think my family is the same way about my husband. My mom refers to him occasionally as Ty the Beloved.
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July 4th, 2011 on 12:39 pm
That is so sweet. Makes me think about what a wonderful husband I also have and how he deserves a long list of “thank yous” like this.
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July 4th, 2011 on 4:45 pm
Very Sweet! Happy Birthday TH!
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July 4th, 2011 on 5:42 pm
What a beautiful post to your husbands. He sounds like a wonderful guy!
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July 5th, 2011 on 3:28 am
That was so beautiful Jenna.
Happy Birthday S:)
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July 5th, 2011 on 6:31 am
What a beautiful post and an amazing gift!
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July 5th, 2011 on 8:28 am
Beautiful, beautiful post. I feel like we have similar personalities, Jenna, and it seems like our husbands do too, so I absolutely love this post for the reason that it feels like all the ways I love my husband as well. You have a beautiful family!
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July 5th, 2011 on 12:16 pm
So sweet - happy birthday, TH!
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July 5th, 2011 on 2:45 pm
Awww you posted one of my favorite sonnets! I’m a huge Neruda fan! Happy Bday TH I hope it was amazing!
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July 8th, 2011 on 7:06 am
We had that Pablo Neruda sonnet recited at our wedding. I love it. And happy belated to TH!
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July 11th, 2011 on 3:28 pm
i am SO behind in my blog reading, so promise not to comment on every post (given that its so late!) - but what a wonderful tribute to your husband! This is really thoughtful and I know that your family will love reading this in the years to come and seeing the words of love that you’ve written. It will be fun to see the evolution of what you value each year as well.
On another note - I LOVE Neruda’s poetry! I won a Florida State prize in high school for my Neruda recitation at a Spanish competition (nerd alert!). I’ve always thought that his work is beautiful. Glad you like it too
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July 13th, 2011 on 11:12 am
This morning, as I sit on the porch and watch my children play, I read this post. And balled. Like a 2 year old. For your honesty, your love of a good man, his love of you. For the family you have created, and the man you are raising. And for the strength you give all wives. The strength to admit when they are wrong, the fortitude to let their husbands lead. I am better for your story, and I know countless others are too.
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Jenna Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
April this is so kind. Thank you.
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