Special note: I’m very sorry if I have confused you guys. Sundance is a good friend, not my husband. My husband isn’t part of the Treehouse crew, and he has no idea about the stuff I write unless it’s something about the grandkids I might show him. 

This weekend we celebrate our 46th anniversary. Okay, we’ll celebrate later, my tough guy is at the races with a bunch of other tough guys. Believe it or not, I’m okay with that. These guys work hard and deserve their annual weekend. I think guys need times like that, and I happen to be a huge fan of toxic masculinity.

A few weeks before I turned 18, I met this really captivating guy who was good looking, strong, kind, and most attractive of all to me, not afraid to follow his own path in the face of teenage peer pressure. He was matter of fact about his family ties and his religion, at a time when most teens were way too cool for that stuff.

He had been working a hard physical job in the summers for a number of years, and he’d developed real toughness already. Mental and physical, the kind that does not come cheap. He was humble, and cared about people. He’s always been a people person, while I’m much more reserved.

From the very first, he saw me. He saw deeper than a pretty young girl, confused and unsure, but very opinionated nonetheless. He saw me. And came to love me anyhow.

We were married the summer after our graduation. We became parents, three sons born to us in the next five years, during the worst economic times faced in my lifetime, with the exception of now, of course.

Those early years were very hard. There were times when I drove our little Pinto along the road late at night while he walked the ditches to find coke bottles. We took them in for gas money to get him to work. In spite of that, the first winter we were married he gave his coat to an old homeless man we knew, knowing full well we couldn’t buy him another one. I fell even more in love with him at that moment.

Like most all old married couples, we’ve had lots of good times, and plenty of bad ones. Spending the years with a man who won’t break has made them much better for me, and for our sons. He is a rock, and through it all, he’s never once faltered. Never complained, never been tempted to give up, never known defeat, because defeat does not exist in his world.

This weekend I honor a man among men. Dear God, please give us more of them. We really, really need them right now.

And they make great fathers, passing on that strength. God bless them all. Here’s to you, tough guys. Thanks for all you do.

Posted in Celebrations, Treehouse Campfire, Uncategorized
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