This is my favorite picture of Todd. This is the REAL Todd. If ever there was a picture that captured the purity of the soul, it's this one. And I find that appropriate because with Todd, what you see is what you get. He is one of the most genuine, unpretentious people I know.
Wait... oops, I said real, right? Well don't let this picture fool you...
...or this picture.
Todd DOES NOT like to dress up. He likes to be himself. If he is ever seen about town as Elvis or a pirate, it is usually because I have coerced him into it.
Todd does not like attention. Not even positive attention. He gets embarrassed. He doesn't mind recognition, but attention is totally different.
He likes to be recognized for being funny, but by that I mean that he likes you to laugh at his jokes, but if you were to tell him, "You're really funny," he might be embarrassed, because the latter is attention and the former is recognition.
Todd is a lot of fun to hang out with. I am glad that if I couldn't have kids I couldn't have kids with Todd. I never get sick of him. Every Monday, I miss him because I had to him to myself the whole weekend.
That being said, Todd is really good with kids. He would make the BEST dad. He is silly and he makes up really good songs.
Wait, he can be tender, too.
Awww... He loves his nieces and nephews. I have loads of photos of him with the chlins', but my computer illiteracy prevents me from posting them.
Which brings me to things that Todd is good at:
Computers
Problem solving and figuring things out
He's way handy (he can fix just about anything)
Singing (and making up songs)
Making people laugh
Cooking meat (BBQ)
Gardening
Making his wife happy (and making her laugh out loud on a daily, nay, hourly, basis)
Here are some things Todd likes:
Corn dogs
Coleslaw
Fishing
Camping and the Great Outdoors
The smell of warm pine needles and mountain air
Humoring his wife
Kissing (his wife)
I feel very proud of Todd. I will try to recognize him for the following and try to NOT embarrass him...
Todd has done some really hard things. He has started a company. He got his MBA. He has held scary callings at church. I am convinced that his capacity for growth is endless. There is nothing he can't take on and conquer. And that brings me to another really good quality: he is a superhero. He IS unbreakable.
I can trust Todd. I know he will always choose the right thing to do. I don't have to worry too much about what he does or who he hangs around with when he travels. Todd is the kind of person other people want to be good for.
I know, this is getting embarrassing.
But I love Todd for so many reasons! I have to share, to celebrate him! He is the BEST husband and the BEST partner. Did you know that he has NEVER, in 10 years of marriage, ever said anything on purpose to hurt my feelings? He refrains. That's important. I know that when I am being bratty or PMS-y he could verbally jab me, but he never has. He never uses a "tone" with me or hurts me to "put me in my place." Even if it is deserved. I can "confess" anything to Todd and be totally honest with him because I know he is on my team. (Like the time I accidentally spent $250 on some silk fabric... it truly was an accident.)
I really don't prescribe to the notion that there is one true match for any individual. Actually, maybe I do because I always say "there is a lid for every pot." But really I just mean that about weird people. But Todd is the only one for me. I knew it the very first time we kissed. I know... that's so romantic, and I am not generally a romantic, I am a pragmatist, but the actuality is that I knew I wanted Todd forever. Who wouldn't?
So that's why I am glad that he was born. There is no one on the face of the whole wide world that I would rather be with forever.
Happy birthday, Tood, Shmoopy, Buddy, Sugar Plum, Sweetheart, Friend.
