“She's gotta different laugh for every kinda funny.”
- Girl I Need/R.P.
Today is my bride's birthday. Kendra turns one of those numbers divisible by five. Like everything else with her, she'll do it with beauty and grace.
What can I tell you about Kendra? Well, let's see…Here's a few tidbits.
She can fly a fully loaded 380,000 pound Airbus A300 through a manure storm and land it on a band aid, climb out of it, come home and whip up a batch of cookies elegant enough to appear on a magazine cover. She can hike a 14,000-foot mountain and then decorate a Christmas tree that humbles Santa's elves.
She's got a baseball closer's steely calm under pressure (except with spiders) and a smile that advertisers search the world over to find. She a low drama, can-do, we-got-this, stand back, let's-get-it-done, no-weak-coffee kind of person. There's nothing she can't do if she decides to do it (Except whistle. She can't whistle. Thank God). Whatever you're doing, you want her on your team (and her sister). Things will go better.
She keeps me looking up when my nature is to look down. She's a five-year plan to my five-minute plan; she's details to my generalities. She says she keeps us in the future and I keep us in the moment. It seems to work.
She's my cheerleader and my fierce defender. She's confident I can do whatever it is no matter how daunting it is to me. She loves her family and friends ferociously and she's their big cheerleader too. She also loves Nicky the Cat. When that kitty showed up at our backdoor four Decembers ago freezing, scrawny, starving and homeless, she had no idea how her fortunes were about to change. Now, Nicky lives in the grandest of luxury without a single desire unmet. That's thanks to you know who.
She makes me laugh and always has. There's nothing more attractive than a great sense of humor in my book and she's got it. She'd rather watch reruns of Kim's Convenience, The Middle or Scrubs than the current hot and heavy crime drama, high-concept thriller or, God forbid, “Reality Show.” My kinda girl.
Or, she'll watch sports. She's a big fan, in general… more so than I am at this point. Sometimes when life gets hectic and she's run ragged and needs a minute of relaxation, she'll say, “I just want to sit down and watch some football.” She's a lifelong Cardinal fan which is pretty sexy too. She has more faith than I do, though. She never thinks the Cards are out of it even when they're down eight runs in the ninth. I'm pretty sure they are when they're behind 1-0 in the second.
Three last things to know: She's got a deadly jump shot from the corner, so be aware of that if you're playing her in H-O-R-S-E. She stays skinny from looking high and low for her glasses. And, she is right-handed in absolutely everything she does with one exception; she plays air guitar left-handed. That is a mystery you will never solve.
I've know her for 36 birthdays now. Watching her over time very intentionally live into the person God created her to be has been my greatest privilege in life. I'm thankful to be a witness.
So, Happy Birthday to Kendra. She's the bright red balloons and cupcake sprinkles that brighten my world and so many others.