The Desk

A few weeks ago, we listed an old desk, that was handed down to us from Jeremy's parents, on Craigslist. It was posted for about 2 hours and then it was sold, picked up, and gone. I commented to Jeremy that I was sad to see it go and he just looked at me like I was crazy.

We got it not long after we were married. It always housed our computer until we moved to New York. That was in 2003 when Jeremy started PA school. It soon became his studying desk. We lived in a 3 bedroom house on Long Island and at the end of the hall was the spare bedroom that doubled as his office. That was where Jeremy would spend countless hours studying. And I mean 3 binders of notes open at any given time, 10 textbooks piled on the corner with about 3 open as cross references, re-listening to lectures. It was the most dedicated I had ever seen him to that point.

A typical day would go like this: Get up, eat, family prayer, go to school all day for class, come home go to his room to study, come out and play with Jake and Abby for a while, go back and study some more, come out and eat dinner, go back and study again, come out to read to Jake and kiss the kids good-night, and then go back to study until usually at least 1:00am.

He never complained, he never gave up. He worked his tail off and showed his kids by his great example the importance of hard work, and he ALWAYS found time for his wife and kids. Sometimes the kids would beg to go see him and I'd make them wait at least an hour for his study break. Then they'd storm down the hall, burst in to his office and he'd wrestle Jake and hold Abby.

The wonderful traits that came out so strongly in PA school are still there, but even better. He still rarely complains. He still reads with Jake every night. He still studies and expands his already full brain. But he also teaches Hannah to ride her bike without training wheels, wraps Abby's "hurt knee" in a towel for her, treats family and neighbors' illnesses late at night, attends church meetings all the time, takes Jake home teaching, dresses the girls' dollies, builds a treehouse, jogs the dog, brushes Annie's teeth...and on and on.

I love Jeremy. I love him for making me want to be a better person, for his patience, for his kindness, his amazing work ethic, for the fantastic husband and father he is. I'm thankful for all the long hours of studying at the old desk and that he works so hard now to provide a living for our family.

Thanks for the great example you are to your wife and children, Jeremy.