Happy Birthday Ben!

Instead of presenting Ben with a large, beautifully wrapped gift, with a decorated house, cake, streamers and more--I gave him snot and a 102 fever.

After a weekend consisting of a broken windshield, jury duty, having to cancel the fun weekend with his friends because he was exhausted, the gun show being cancelled, the gun shops being closed, and me giving out while re-painting the garage leaving him to finish up 2 hours of work while I shivered in a bath, he never said a word.

He didn't get his cake--he wanted me to wait to bake it until his family came down.

He didn't get the decorations--I was too busy shivering on the couch and whining about not feeling good.

He didn't even get his birthday dinner-- instead he ate pre-packaged soup and crackers while he rubbed my head.


So rather than get a cake, decorations, a dinner out, a weekend with his best buddies and a cool new gun, he got snot, a hacking cough, a half-painted garage and a high fever.

And he never said a word about it. Instead of griping about how his day had been overlooked and I was getting all the attention, he just soothed my head. Instead of being bitter about his bad luck, he wiped me down with cold cloths at 4 a.m. He even took off work of most of the morning to make sure my fever wasn't too high.

So even though this was his crappiest birthday in our four years together (even crappier than the first one where he bought my hamburger, his hamburger, and John half the menu), I just wanted him to know I appreciate it. His generosity and compassion were the two biggest reasons I fell in love with him, and he continues to amaze me even to this day.

Happy Birthday darling! I love you!