Ode to Pookie

Ode to Pookie,
When I am down, even the thought of you cheers me up! You are the light of my morning, the sunshine of my day, the stars of my evening, my cookie crumbs, my puppy toes!

You are so very good to me. You make sure I am well attended, respected, cared for and always stand up for me—even standing up to your mother, which a good many men simply will not do. Next to me you are my best advocate.

Your support of me has taken me from the pitiful ending of an abusive relationship to picking up the pieces of me and helping me rebuild myself in the image of who I want to be—a wife, mother, career executive, total woman and decent human being. You treat me better than a queen. You believe in me. I never could have done what I have done without you.
We have two beautiful children. Sometimes they are handfuls, and you love them with all your heart. I have never met a better dad.

With every fear, you ask “what’s wrong?” With every loud thunder, you have a hug for me. With every joy, you celebrate with me. You are a pillar of physical, emotional and spiritual strength. You are my equal. You are my partner. As you always say, we are a team.

When the doctors said, “It’s a girl!” you held her fast while they worked to save my life.
When the doctors said, “It’s a boy!” you clipped the cord and waited again while they saved my life.
When the doctors said, “It could be cancer…” You held me tight and said, “We don’t know. But if it is, we will face it together.”
When the doctors said, “It is time to take the uterus out…” You are, again, by my side living life with me.

You set up my recovery bed. You explained the game plan to the children. You made arrangements at work. You helped me prepare by lifting all the heavy stuff and getting the garbage to the curb.
You planned the travel to get me to the hospital at the appointed hour. You planned to make sure I got through surgery well. You took charge of communicating to the family on my status. And going home, you planned to take the least bumpy roads, so it would not hurt so much.
There are plenty of words to explain what you do that is so wonderful, but not so many when it comes to describing you. The few that come to mind are realist, lover, fighter, advocate, honest, loyal, true, wonderful, the kid’s very own superhero (and my hero, too.)

Thank you so very much for choosing me as your life partner. You mean more to me than the world. You make life worth living. Our love is eternal.
I love you,
Your Kitty Paws