Why Mrs. Chako?

So now that my new blog-friend Sean has been kind enough to add me to his list of preferred bloggers, along with my dear hubby and his esteemed poker blogger pals/readers like Falstaff, Alcanthang, and Iggy, among others, I'm going to take one of his suggestions and explain to you why I married the goofball.

Many of you have only known him at the poker table and you know - his poker persona can be alternately annoying, amusing, and perplexing. In fact, he and I have often played poker together, and to be honest, I'd rather not. Somedays, he is downright embarrassing. I'm not sure if his "I'm a badass" routine is worse than his "I'm just your typical nice guy taking a break from it all" routine - why can't he just have a quiet, introverted Barry Greenstein kind of personality at the table?

But I married him before the poker player surfaced - and underneath all that bravado, he's still there . . . so here's the answer to "Why Mrs. Chako?"

1. It took him four months to ask me out. At first I thought it was because he wasn't interested - when I figured out it was because he was shy, I found it cute.
2. I managed to embarrass him on our first date (a story for another day), and he still asked me out for a second, even after I accidentally pulled my hand away on his attempt to hold my hand that night.
3. He has a smile that lights up his whole face - and uses it often. Even when he's trying to take your money or losing his.
4. He's a true gentleman - always paid for our dates, loves to say "sir" and "ma'am", and opens doors for women. He made my mother and grandmother swoon when he jumped out of the car to open their doors.
5. He loves watching movies as much as I do.
6. He wrote me a song for our first Valentine's Day. He recorded it more than three years later and played it as our first dance at our wedding.
7. He's got brains - he can't turn down a good game of trivia with me, and still loves to try to outsmart me.
8. He's got magic fingers and a great voice - you should hear him play and sing.
9. After dating for only six months, he met HALF of my family - 6 aunts and uncles and their spouses, 17 of 21 cousins, and a host of other great aunts and uncles - and STILL asked me to marry him.
10. He asked my parents' permission to marry me first.
11. He has yummy chocolate brown eyes - I have blue eyes, and always wanted to marry a dark-haired, dark-eyed man.
12. I got to introduce him to his first football game - Broncos vs. the 49ers. He got to introduce me to sushi.
13. With a few Sunday afternoon snuggles on the couch, I convinced him to love the Packers as much as I did.
14. While the rest of my friends were struggling with their biological clocks and men who were turned off by their interest in having children, the good Dr. called me at work to announce he was ready to be a father. I got him to wait until AFTER we'd gotten engaged and married. He's now given me two beautiful boys - with brown eyes!

Its not an exhaustive list - its only the beginning. It gets longer every year - and well outpaces the list of things that drive me crazy. I'll share that list some other day.

Wish my love well.

I love you, Dr.

The Wife