Tessa's Burden

It almost goes without saying that one of my biggest inspirations for becoming a healthier person is Tessa. Of course, if you know me, you know that will never go without saying… Tessa is my muse.

I wish that I could say I am doing this all on my own – not that I want to be alone through the process, but the diet this surgery brings along with it is, well, quite frankly pretty crazy by most American’s standards. It almost saddens me to say that the decision to take on weight loss surgery and the life changes that it brings is a burden that Tessa is going to inherit. To a lesser extent it will affect my sons – and though we try to teach the boys how to eat right so they can grow up healthy, I have faith that they will still get to be kids in the end. Tess, however, will get to play the balancing act of shopping for the kids, shopping for my odd diet and supplements, and finding her medium in all of this. I would like to say that I am going to help all the time, and in truth I certainly will where I can, but the undeniable truth is that Tess takes care of most of the house-care while I am at work.

For this pain in your-so-called-patootie, babe, I am sorry.

Tessa and I are the definition of “opposites attract.” Our backgrounds: completely different. Philosophies on life: black and white. Religious beliefs: nope. Political views: not even close. We don’t even see eye-to-eye on music and movies most of the time. And as with any marriage, friendship, and partnership we have our share of squabbles, though usually about stupid shit (which we both know). And after knowing this extraordinary woman for nearly 14 years now we can still talk everything out and make each other smile. Actually, in the nearly 5 years that we have been married I have become an acute observer of relationships. With all of the issues we have already dealt with in our relationship (man, oh, man I have so many other stories to tell) I honestly feel that there can be no better couple than Tessa and I.

Heh… and most of the time I still feel that she is just stuck with me…

For this pain in your-so-called-patootie, Tessa, I thank you.

Tessa deserves many, many more words than what I have put down here. In time, perhaps I can verbally express all of the love and gratitude she deserves. For now, I felt I needed to take a few minutes to share some thoughts about my wife. You will never meet a more kind-hearted person, and that is why I married her.

I once made Tessa a promise, “I will grow old with you.” I plan to fully honor that promise. I love you, baby…