My Husband, the Moment-Maker

A friend of ours once described his marriage in this way, and it has remained one of Patrick and my favorite ways of thinking about what makes marriage so great:

"When you're married, you don't have to rely on just yourself any more to solve problems. Suddenly you've got two sets of hands and two brains and two hearts that are all working together to figure things out."

Anyone who knows Patrick and me knows that in many ways, we prove the saying, "opposites attract." And one of the coolest things about that truth is the varying perspective we can often get from our two brains, hearts, and sets of hands on the same situation.

Patrick wrote the sweetest post about me not too long ago. And I have to say, moments like that are energizing to me: refusing to take no for an answer, beating the clock, fighting hard for what I think should happen. Carrying that over into daily life, I am the queen of making the To-Do list. Of thinking about all that needs to be done. Of pushing through until everything is in place. However, sometimes everything on the To-Do list doesn't need to be done - I just think it does. And sometimes my 'overdrive' is just my fancy way of trying to control a situation that can't be.

Enter Patrick Torres' brain. And heart. And two sets of hands.

Among the hundreds of things I love and admire about my husband, one of the biggest is this: Patrick is a Moment-Maker. He intrinsically - in a way that I usually miss - understands the importance of Stopping. Of seeing the beauty in the midst of chaos. Of marking important moments before they pass by.

Today we have hit the two-week mark from our due date. And with that, we are now officially "in the window," which means the baby could come at any time now. Although excited, this also fills me with a sense of panic about all that's left to do (Which really, is nothing: the baby will not care if there are not pictures on her wall.). Patrick and I have talked a lot about enjoying this last bit of time together before we forever become a different type of family. But Patrick always goes further than that...

Last week, Patrick surprised me with planning one last, big date night for us. Yes, hopefully, we'll get to go to the movies or out to dinner a time or two more, but it was important for my husband to plan something really special for the two of us to do together, just to celebrate us. So, without me knowing, Patrick bought us tickets to the amazing Cirque du Soleil: one of the most spectacular performances you could ever see where beauty meets athleticism. It's really absolutely incredible, and also something we had a chance to do with a group while we were still in college, when we had just started liking each other for the first time. So we dressed up, went to an amazing restaurant, talked about some of our favorite moments of our marriage so far, walked around the National Harbor, and then enjoyed the show. It totally felt like a DATE, and was really special.

I'm so blessed to have Patrick's heart alongside mine to step into my craziness and remind me of the importance of a Moment. And our baby is so blessed to have a Daddy that can model these things for her as well...especially when Mommy needs to just chill out. : )