She was cool. That was my initial thought when I first met her. She was just cool.
It wasn’t her milk-chocolate hair. Or her Poarch Creek skin. Or her quirky mannerisms. Or her loud, Alabamian voice. Or the way she spoke, like everything she said carried the same level of importance as, say, national security.
It wasn’t her filthy ‘89 Nissan Altima. Her car was disgusting. Before you crawled inside, you wanted to make sure you were current on all your shots. Her backseat was littered in culinary school textbooks, mostly with French titles. Fleetwood Mac was in the cassette player. There was a church key in the ashtray.
It wasn’t that she was bossy—I have a thing for bossy women. It wasn’t that she was a tomboy—I have a thing for tomboys. It wasn’t that she truly believed she could beat me at arm wrestling, and then proceeded to do so.
It wasn’t that she knew all the words to Joe Diffie’s “Pickup Man,” or that she could clear a dance floor whenever they played “Watermelon Crawl.”
It wasn’t the way that dogs and children always followed her around. And it wasn’t the way she smelled without perfume; a sweet smell, mixed with a little sweat.
It wasn’t the way she listened intently when someone spoke, with a slightly tensed brow, like she was REALLY listening. Either that, or she was trying to solve the Riemann Hypothesis.
It wasn’t the way she laughed too much. Or the way she was always cracking jokes. Or that she had her black belt in sarcasm. Or the way we could spend 138 hours in a car together, without one serious word being spoken between us.
Or the way she chewed her nails. Or the way she never had to shave her legs because she is the only human being I’ve ever known who was devoid of arm and leg hair.
It wasn’t the way she always pulled over to help someone with a flat tire, or a dead battery, or an out-of-state tag, or whatever the problem may be.
It wasn’t that she saved pop tabs from her own aluminum cans (and the aluminum cans of anyone within the Continental United States), for donation to Ronald McDonald House. She had several dozen shoeboxes full of tabs. She was heck at a tailgate party.
It wasn’t the way she could carry on a one-woman conversation with herself whenever she called you on the phone. It wasn’t the way she wrote thank-yous for every occasion, including the onset of Daylight Saving Time. It wasn’t the way she planned family Christmases, at minimum, 12 years in advance.
It wasn’t the way she had to know exactly what was in random people’s refrigerators at various houses she visited.
It wasn’t the way she subscribed to “Cook’s Illustrated” magazine, or that she owned every “Southern Living” cookbook predating the French and Indian War.
It wasn’t that she made pimento cheese that was good enough to make a grown man slap his grandmother. It wasn’t that she could prepare pound cake without consulting a recipe card.
It wasn’t that she always—ALWAYS—looked for the underdogs. It wasn’t that she had good manners. It wasn’t that she possessed enough etiquette to befriend the village idiot, and then be kind enough to take his last name.
It wasn’t that she once told a middle-school dropout that he could be whatever he wanted in this life. It wasn’t that she had the wherewithal to actually help him do it.
No, it wasn’t any of that. It was simply that she was the only woman he ever loved. And after a few decades of marriage, she still is.
Happy 50th birthday, Jamie.
14 comments
Dianne - October 25, 2023 11:38 am
Happy Birthday Jamie! You and my husband celebrate the same birthday except he is 72 today. So glad you and Sean got to spend it in Italy.
Dr. Patricia Schmaltz - October 25, 2023 12:33 pm
Why do you INSIST on making me cry! You both are so lucky to have each other, and WE are lucky to have you both in our (I’m speaking for all of mankind here) lives.
Melika - October 25, 2023 1:32 pm
Buon Compleanno a Jamie! Wishing her an amazing and blessed day surrounded by Italy s beauty.
Heather - October 25, 2023 2:04 pm
You are lucky, Jamie. This husband of yours loves you to Mars and back. Happy birthday, Jamie. You are a woman of many talents, married to a man of many talents. God sure knew what He was doing when He placed you two together. May you both live to see many, many more birthdays, as much in love as you are today.🎂
James Burkhart - October 25, 2023 3:48 pm
Jamie is definitely a keeper.
mim - October 25, 2023 4:25 pm
Many happy returns of the day!
Becky Souders - October 25, 2023 8:14 pm
What a great gift! You are a lucky man, Sean Dietrich.
pattymack43 - October 25, 2023 8:37 pm
LOVE the way you say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! May there be 50 more to come, Jamie!!
Blessings to you, both….
Susan Flockton - October 26, 2023 1:22 pm
Happy Birthday, Jamie! Wishing you birthday blessings and a wonderful year!
Fred Borders - October 26, 2023 1:32 pm
Wonderful Happy Birthday card to your
wife Sean!
Dan - October 26, 2023 1:36 pm
I wonder how many people read this and pause, and ask someone older, “what is a ‘church key’?”
Mary Lou Roane - October 26, 2023 11:23 pm
Happy birhday, Jamie!
Roberta Gordner - October 27, 2023 11:30 am
I Hope you had an amazing birthday, Jamie :-)! I love how Sean loves you!
Larry J Wall - October 28, 2023 10:46 pm
Just the perfect wife and woman, Sean, based on your description and feelings. And no doubt that she is a gem. Happy Birthday, young lady. We all love you for being who you are.