99 reasons that I love Elysha Dicks

Today is our seventh anniversary. Please forgive me for this indulgence.

Here are some of the many reasons I love my wife as much as I do.

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1. The way she sleeps on folded hands

2. She once yelled at a 90-year-old woman who was cheating in Scrabble

3. The way she is like a mother and a sister at the same time to Clara

4. She once skipped school to play The Legend of Zelda

5. Many of my friends consider her to be the ideal wife

6. She is one of the finest teachers I have ever known

7. She asked to stop talking to watch The Simpsons on our first date

8. She makes me a better storyteller

9. She loves Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Paul Simon and Patsy Cline

10. She feels terrible about the spiders she kills

11. She tells me what to put on my plate in a buffet line

12. She asks me when Hard Knocks is starting again

13. She can navigate any mall flawlessly but almost nothing else

14. The way she disappears for two days when she reads a book

15. Her senseless fear of aliens

16. Holding her hand

17. Listening to an audiobook with her on a long drive

18. The new set of parents that she has brought into my life

19. She looks beautiful in a baseball cap

20. The way she puts her hand on my shoulder after a nightmare

21. She knows me better than I know myself

22. The way she plays with infants in her lap

23. The way she runs her hands through my hair while I’m driving

24. Her aggressive response to people who cut in line

25. The way that my friends have become her friends

26. Her infinitesimal lisp

27. The way she reads her childhood stories to our children

28. Her undercover streak of unrelenting nonconformity

29. Watching her dance

30. The way I knew she was pregnant with Clara before she did

31. Her complete and total lack of jealousy

32. The way she has never told me what to wear

33. The degree to which she hates people who hate me

34. Her love for Battlestar Galactica

35. The way she fills our home with music every evening

36. Her ability to react quickly and without panic in an emergency

37. The partnership we share in writing, storytelling, and creativity

38. The way she looks in her green Smith tee-shirt

39. Her lack of concern over what others think of her

40. Her inability to watch any scary movie

41. The way she wraps gifts in magazine photographs

42. Her Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandom, including the soundtrack

43. The way she looks while wearing a headband

44. Her astounding patience

45. Her “good rice and chicken” dinner

46. Her fierce love for her grandmother

47. Her ability to name almost any song on the radio within three seconds

48. The way she cried when I asked her to marry me

49. Her harsh but frequently necessary criticism of my writing

50. The way she said Charlie’s name for the first time in the delivery room

51. Her timeless beauty on our wedding day

52. Our “South Park is better than The Simpsons” talk

53. The way she looks in a knit cap

54. The extreme diversity of her friends

55. The way it takes about 15 minutes to become her lifelong friend

56. The fact she has not poisoned our dog or cat yet

57. Her untapped, underutilized, and yet remarkable design aesthetic

58. Her camera-ready-but-still-natural-looking smile

59. The way she sneezes multiple times every time

60. Her willingness to eat ice cream for dinner

61. Any cookie or cake that she has ever baked

62. Watching her dance. I repeat because it is my favorite thing

63. She is in the black in career winnings in poker

64. The way she wept when upon receiving news of my first book deal

65. Her love for a Patriots game on a fall afternoon

66. The way she weeps uncontrollably during year-end school speeches

67. The way everyone seems to love her almost as much as I do

68. Her universal and unfailing support of me

69. The way she has never made me feel guilty about being away from home

70. Those moments in life when she is uncommonly proud of me

71. Falling asleep on my shoulder at the drive-in

72. Her unwarranted confidence in almost everything I do

73. Her love and attachment to yet independence from her parents

74. Her rejection of senseless tradition

75. Her tears on our wedding day

76. The way she stretches in the morning as she wakes up

77. The way she looked on the beaches of Bermuda

78. Her lack of investment in trends and name brands

79. Her embrace and love of Christmas

80. The way her former students still love her years later

81. The way she sings to our children at night

82. The way she barely grips the toothbrush while brushing her teeth

83. The way she speaks to our children the same way she speaks to adults

84. Her unwavering defense of my quirks and eccentricities

85. Her genuinely violent yet laughter-filled response to tickling

86. The way she walks when she is tipsy

87. Her grudging acceptance of my last name

88. The way every wedding I attend makes me want to marry her again

89. Her unparalleled, unjustified acceptance of me in every way

90. The inexplicable pleasure she feels in bathing our children

91. The fact that we have never had an actual fight

92. Her talent for filling stockings with perfect presents at Christmastime

93. The way she dances with our children in the kitchen

94. The affection she feels for her childhood

95. The way she folds a shirt

96. Her reference to me as a “manly hunk of man meat.”

97. The frequency at which she changes her order in a restaurant

98. Her rejection and hatred of snobbery in every way

99. Agreeing to marry me on the steps of Grand Central Terminal

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