The last one had better be the best one.

Earlier this week I wrote about Elysha’s gift giving prowess. It got me thinking:

Thank goodness I married her. Imagine if she had dumped me for some other terrible man, and I had gone onto marry someone else.

Elysha would likely have remained the most thoughtful gift giver who I had ever met, but I could never have told my future wife that there was once a woman in my life who gave me decidedly better gifts.

Right?

Instead, I’d be forced to live a life of quiet desperation, perpetually saddened over the quality of the gifts I was receiving versus what I could have received had I married Elysha. 

That truth applies to many things about our spouses. 

For example, Elysha is the most beautiful woman I had ever dated. The best dancer. The smartest person. The best cook. The funniest woman I’ve ever known. 

Thank goodness I married her.

Imagine going through life knowing you had once dated someone prettier than your wife. Or someone who prepared far superior meals. Someone who danced better or made you laugh more often. 

What a tragedy that would be. 

Of course, you can’t be a superlative in every category. Elysha may not the most organized woman who I’ve ever dated, and her sense of direction might be the worst of any human being who I have ever known. She loves Steely Dan, won’t watch any movie involving an alien or a ghost, and unconscionably doesn’t mind clutter.

But these less-than-superlative qualities hardly constitute a tragedy. Some of these things can be annoying at times,  but in the grand scheme of things, Elysha has just the right superlatives. 

I wonder how often this is the case.

How often is someone’s spouse the best of the best in all the right ways?

Hopefully more often than not.