And this is my beloved

Time today to write my annual birthday tribute to my splendid Peggy, who was kind enough to marry me in 1973 and remain so ever since.  One thing that I really like about our relationship is that even people who have never met her have heard so much from me about her that they tend to speak of her as if they were old friends.  This happens at work all the time, and then if people from the work group happen actually to meet Peggy at a mall, retirement party or supermarket opening (three places where you're likely to find me) they always act like they are meeting someone from folklore, like Joan of Arc or Joan Van Ark or Pamela Ewing or something.  

I talk about Peggy all the time just because she is such a good person.  I mean that in every sense of the word.  Her kindness just flows over all who come in contact with her.  More than most people, she is guided by the Golden Rule and frequently comments after yet another kind gesture to someone, "Well, that's how everyone should be treated."  

She likes the simple things in life (pause for joke about her choice of husband) and is totally thrilled to have a chance to have dinner at Friendly Farm, or a walk at Loch Raven, or a quiet evening at home, reading, or watching something good on TV like that Downton Abbey show she's so fond of.

She doesn't need the best and the brightest; just having things with love pleases her. Over the years many women, especially younger women, who come into her life have sought her advice on topics ranging from setting up a new file at work to setting up an entire new household.  These women tend to look at her in a special light, as if she were wearing a halo.  In fact, she is.


We live in a world of flash and dash and Kardashians, people who regard marriage so lightly as to use it as a plot device in a dumb TV show.  People like Peggy, who get out of bed and go to work and work hard all day and then drive home to do more and more and more for everyone else don't get the attention, and that's how she likes it, anyway.  She is all about the getting-things-done and not at all about the spotlight, but if there were a spotlight for just a minute to show the world what goodness and purity of heart and spirit look like, I'd like for it to shine just for a minute on the woman who still makes my heart skip a beat every time I see her. 

We have a quote from Ring Lardner on our refrigerator: "They gave each other a smile with a future in it."  I love that thought.  I knew from the first time ever I saw her face that I would marry her.  Peggy, I'm glad to say, felt the same way.


Happy Birthday, Peggy.  Thanks for letting me be around your goodness.  I love you like the rivers love the rain.