Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Why My Wife Is Great

Mary, Ian & I.  Those are hotel bathrobes, by the way.
What can I say?  My wife Mary rules.

She's certainly put up with a lot of crap from me.  Within a month after getting married, I left for London for six months.  I came home two or three days every two weeks, but that was it.  By the way, we had just moved to New York and she didn't know anyone.

Then she endured my drinking phase.  Though I'm sure she has fond memories of the times when I could stop after we shared a bottle of wine, those moments are no doubt tainted by the night after night of the drunken foolery that came later.  And at that point I was probably worse sober.

Then there is multi-sport.  Clearly it is a much healthier obsession, but obsessive behavior still boils down to a low common denominator.  So here we go again....

But maybe not.  Mary has been very supportive.  She's been very accommodating with my training schedule.  She's also been to most of my races, no matter how early they start or how far we have to drive.  And she's always at the finish line with Ian.  I can always hear them cheering no matter how loud it is.  This might be because I can always pick out the sound of Ian's cowbell.  I know that sound well.  We bought the cowbell at Stage 6 of this year's Tour of California, which ranks as one the best days I've spent with my son, despite the fact he rang that damned bell in the car all the way home.  By the way, there is nothing better than your son telling you how proud he is of you when you've finished a race.  So I should be clear:  What can I say?  Ian rules too.

Has it been smooth sailing the whole way?  Not entirely.  For starters, Mary still doesn't understand the difference between carbon and aluminum bikes or Newtons and the whatever running shoes are on sale at Big 5.  It's said that financial matters are one of the top arguments between married couples.  Lucky us!! - multi-sport conveniently adds another topic to throw into the mix.  Coming to some sort of compromise is taking some work.  But this is work that needs to be done from my side, because I can be reckless.

Still, Mary and I have been married for nine years.  Above and beyond becoming a parent, I've been through more profound change in last nine years than the previous thirty-two.  And a lot of the change has not been easy.  Even though I've always been a survivor, survival is always easier with Mary at my side.  I'm glad that she was there.  And I'm glad that she has stuck with me.

Thanks baby, and I love you.

35 comments:

Unknown said...

Sniffle...Great post! Congrats on your NEW addiction so much better than the old, You are making your heart stonger, not breaking it anymore!! :)

Emz said...

My name isn't Mary and I am bawling my eyes out.

"There's something about Mary." isn't there? I love this. I have nothing snarky to say.

This would have to be the best "gift" ever for a wife. [in my eyes anyway].

And I must concur, "there is nothing better than your son[I say daughter] telling you how proud he/she is of you when you've finished a race". You are right. nothing.

Happy Nine to you and Mary.

Allison said...

There is nothing like a 3:15 cry at the office right???

What a great post... you've been full of those lately :)

Congrats on nine years together! So many things to be proud of, Ian, Multi-sport, the unfounding support from what you portray as one AWESOME wife! You are blessed my bloggy friend :)

Jason said...

Great post Patrick. You and I have a lot of similarities down to the great support of our wives and the great support of our boys.

Happy Happy To You, Mary and Ian.

Lucas R. Tucker said...

GREAT POST!

A Prelude To... said...

Love the love!

Julie said...

:) This was lovely!

One Crazy Penguin said...

Great post! Congrats on the 9. You guys are very lucky to have each other :)

KovasP said...

Happy Anniversary, if that is what this post is for. Or happy marriage otherwise.

(When I saw the thumbnail of the photo, it really looked like you had a monster Exploited mohawk going!)

Christi said...

Great post! You sound like you have a great family!

Anonymous said...

Awesome!

Unknown said...

Great post... Mary DOES sound pretty awesome! :)

TRI714 said...

O.k. lets get some things cleared up here.
First of all, I kind of wish I had known Patrick in his past life ( actually, I'm suprised I didn't) But that's a whole nother blog.
He susprises me daily, and this ranks at the top.
He seems like an awesome dad. My last example would be- shopping mart video from Ian. Do we all remember Ian, camera in hand look left,right,left,right,left,right oh action figures!!
Homie, anything worthwhile will have it's price. Finding the ballance is Zen.
Your all over it.
Thank God for MARY !!

Great post, your a better man for all of it.

TRI714 said...

Oh and yes, I got alittle choked up too. S.O.B

Big Clyde said...

So, when will she guest-post?

You are blessed, my friend.

Diana Tries-A-Tri! said...

You're a lucky lucky guy! And a very good looking (and cozy) bunch there.

Yeah, I cried too ... sheesh!

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. How would we do this without support?

Aimee said...

Aww...what a great post! I like the family pic at the beginning! :)

Pahla said...

*sniff* Loved this post. Your wife is a lucky girl.

Anonymous said...

Awwww.

Lindsay said...

yay mary! yay patrick for being conscious to think of all these things ;) some guys are dense you know. you are both very luck to have each other!

wishes for many more years of happiness and love!!

Joel said...

Great post, Patrick. Far too often, we guys don't appreciate what we've got - whether it's wife, girlfriend, partner, whatever. Kudos to you for (1) recognizing it and (2) sharing it!

Chris K said...

Very nice Patrick. I hope I get to meet this awesome woman in Feb.

KC (my 140 point 6 mile journey) said...

You have a great team behind you Patrick!

Jennifer said...

You are blessed buddy! Love the picture.

Matty O said...

I view marriages as living entities. Always growing always changing. They are delicate and fragile. You must always work at it or risk losing it.

I do not know too many marriages that were not riddled with heated debates and challenges.

I have found my soul mate because she gets me, she is not typically happy with me when she gets me, but she can understand me.

You have an awesome family man.

As for the drinking. I rarely let it get way out of hand... maybe once every three months but I am a happy drunk and H is always there to ensure I get home safe. I enjoy beer. I think that majority of triathletes have an obsessive nature. The more you get to know people the more true this becomes.

Johann said...

Super! You are a lucky man!

Heather said...

Very sweet. Sounds like you've got a very supportive family, that's awesome! It's nice that you take the time to appreciate them.

Laura said...

Great post! I count myself lucky to have a great hubs who supports me in my run 'career' and vice versa. I would not trade a day of my 20 yrs with him.

Goose said...

This is wonderful. Many congratulations to you and keep on.

Kathleen said...

That is so nice, what a sweet post.
I love the picture too.

Jill said...

Awesome!! I hope you show her this for Christmas :).

The Green Girl said...

I agree - you should definitely show this to her if you haven't already!

Kate Geisen said...

What a great post. Clearly, your wife and son rock. Having that support from your family must be great. And it's only been 9 years...plenty of time still ahead for her to learn the finer points or carbon.

Glenn Jones said...

Great tribute Patrick! The most important thing is that Ian gets to watch such a tremendous foundation as a family. He will know how to "do it" when he gets older.

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