October Ovation: Who Do You Most Admire?

OCTOBER OVATION (The brainchild of Barrie Summy)

I gave some thought to writing about Eleanor Roosevelt or Charles Darwin or Jonas Salk, but they're people I only know from a distance. I don't really know the kind of husbands or wives or fathers they were. A few months ago I might have chosen John Edwards, for Pete's sake.

So I am picking the person I know best in the world and the one I admire most, my husband. In the 41 years we've been married, he has never said one mean word to me. I have never gone to bed angry or hurt over something he said or did. He has worked hard every day of our lives and was the best father imaginable. He was chair of the PTO, coach of the Little League teams, room-parent every year. He drew pictures with my daughter, threw the ball with my son and read to them both and now lavishes the same care on our grandson. He attended every event in all of our lives.

For the last five years, he has helped me care for my parents with little complaint. He drives me to their apartment at least once a week, does many errands for them and for me, bucks me up when I'm down.

He has written thirteen books, fifty articles and won many awards for his teaching and research. He respects his students and never complains about teaching, grading papers, keeping office hours, a rarity among professors.

He cooks our dinner every night, plants a wonderful garden every year, never blames me for earning very little money over the course of our marriage. He reads every word I write and always proclaims it wonderful. I truly can't think of a single person I have ever known or read about that I admire more than my husband.

How was I lucky enough to find this guy at seventeen and marry him at nineteen? And it's his birthday this week! If he sounds too good to be true, I've painted him right. Happy Birthday, Phil. Check out Barrie Summy for more October Ovations.