I am the luckiest man on earth.
Yes, I said it, and I’ll say it again.
I.am.THE.luckiest.man.on.earth.period…and there is not a day
that goes by when I don’t wonder what I did to deserve it. So, why am I so fortunate? Is it my Job?
No. Is it any accumulation of wealth? No. Is
it my health? Not really. I’m lucky because Lisa picked me. Despite all of my faults, all of my bad
habits, all of my selfishness, she picked me… she said yes.
Throughout the years people have asked, when did you know? What was the moment like when you knew she
was the one? It’s a rarely told story,
but I remember vividly where I was when I decided to spend the rest of my life
with Lisa Henley. It started in the fall
of 1992 when I was a young, naïve, fairly irresponsible college kid, free from
most boundaries, who thought I knew it all. I met Lisa at a fraternity party and we officially started dating a
short time thereafter, although, neither of us would admit to our friends that
we were together.
Looking back, those last few years of college together was
an absolute blessing. We would see each
other between classes and meet every day at the Whataburger in the University
Center to have lunch together. Gone are
the memories of exactly what we talked about; we were very young and we were
building a foundation. Spending some
time with her during the day just made me happy.
When we graduated from college in the spring of 1995, Lisa
went to Law School and I started working. For the first time in many years we spent
time apart and I was miserable. I would
call her in the evenings from my apartment in San Francisco and we would talk
for hours. My roommate at the time made
fun of me, but I honestly didn’t care. After
a few months, I flew home for her birthday weekend to some time with her. Unfortunately, nothing went according to plan
and we ended up spending her special day in the Emergency Room. Eight stiches in my big toe later, we shared a
delicious meal in a drive thru and I didn’t care, because we were
together.
The next night after I boarded my flight to the West Coast, I
gazed out the window from my emergency row seat, and I knew. That was the moment. A few days later I resigned from my position and
flew back to Texas to stay. Our journey together
was just beginning.
For those of you who have had the pleasure of getting to
know my wife, I don’t have to tell you that she is one of the kindest, loving,
and most selfless people you will ever meet.
She is the person who will stop what she is doing to help someone
without even thinking about how it affects her plans. She is the person that strives every day to
be better than she was the prior day.
She is the person who knows that a hug can mean more than any
apology. And most importantly, she is
the person who makes other people around her feel better just by being close to
her. This is why I am the luckiest
person on the earth. She’s with me, and
I get to wake up every day and experience it.
So, on this day, her 42nd Birthday, I want her to
have the most amazing day ever. She is
the love of my life and I am blessed to share her with all of you.
