My Super Hero

You know that feeling when you find out that you did something right, despite the odds? That A you received on a history test you felt certain you bombed. That time you took an unlikely route to work and just happened to bypass an accident that had the rest of the world in gridlock for an hour. That one time you put your change from lunch into a slot machine and it gave you $100 back. Forget all the times you did the same move and your convictions proved true, I mean the one in a hundred time it worked. That's how I feel about my wife. Granted my choice to marry her wasn't a hard one or even one I felt iffy about. I knew she was the right one for me from the very first time she opened her mouth and made it clear that she was the boss and I'd never have to worry about being in charge of anything ever again. ... ever. But I get that same satisfied feeling every now and again when she does something that just amazes me. That little reminder that the stars aligned for me and that choice that I made was money. Absolute money. Last night was a perfect storm for trouble. It was unbearably (over dramatizing here) hot and stuffy in the house. Girls stayed up a little too late because we went to sushi for dinner. Bedtime was rushed because we were up too late. Nobody nursed well because we were tired from being up too late. ... just a mess waiting to happen. And sure enough, about 11:30 things started getting rough. It wasn't nearly a disaster like we've had in the past, just a constant back and forth of one is up, now the other and just as we get them down and to sleep they wake up again. But my wife, my superhero in the flesh. ... she just kept slugging it out. She'd return bruised and battered, lay down exhausted only to rise moments later and jump right back in the ring. Around 3am she even told me to go back to sleep so I could get up for work, and she had to have been up for about an hour after that because finally at 4 she asked me to get some Tylenol for the girls. She got back up again around 4:30 and once more at 5:15 when I got up for work. It was like an old German Cuckoo clock. The minute hand drops into place, the little person rises, crosses the room, does an activity, returns lies down only to repeat the process the next time the minute hand drops. And who knows what she was doing in between, because while I was sleeping I'm more than certain she was not. And the amazing part, the part that truly makes me love her more and more, is that this morning she'll call me - probably in another hour or so - and I will be able to literally hear her smile through the phone. She does that. She has an audible smile. She'll be peppy and optimistic and full of her usual "go get 'em" to the point where you can't help but smile as well. I don't know how she does that. I think she should actually start a business delivering bad news for people. It would be great. "Your girlfriend is dumping you today!" "Awesome!" "Those test results came back positive!" "Terrific!" "You're being let go!" "Spectacular!" If I had a night like hers I would go to Starbucks, ask for the IV drip to be installed in my left forearm, get to work, close my door, lay my head on my desk and god help any poor soul who disturbed me. But that's why I didn't marry me. That and because I think you can only legally do that in Vermont.