Happy Birthday Katrina

Katrina is my beautiful and amazing wife. You don’t see me write very much about here on here because she lives her life differently than I do. She’s not as public with her digital lifestyle. Yes, she reads Twitter, and she has a Flickr account, and a blog, and Facebook, and she does all kinds of really cool things with social media. But she’s not very public about it, so I don’t often mention how she interacts on a given day with me, my world, and the stuff she deals with.

But it’s her birthday, so for that, I want to just take some time and talk about Katrina.

We Met Online

First, I should point out that Katrina and I met online. I was in a weird place in my life, where I felt I was crazy and wrong (yes, I’m still crazy, but now I know I’m not wrong for being crazy). She was up in Canada, and I was down here in Massachusetts, trying to figure out where my life was going next. After some general friendship, we realized that we had a lot in common (well, music and a few things), and we started falling for each other.

Punks Together

We had lots of fun times in our dating, including messing around with music, and doing art projects together, and supporting each other’s various initiatives. Katrina does fabric and textile art, and she noodles with music as well. It’s cool when we have time to do art.

Mother

Though neither of us really had planned for a family life, we both fought our way into learning how to be parents. Kat’s so much better at it than me. She’s much more patient, has all of the tricks and skills of being a mom, and knows how to talk me and the kids off the ledge.

Kat and the kids play incredible games all the time. She keeps them entertained, fed, clothed (when they’re willing to wear clothes), and all around energized. With my Violette, who is a ball of fire and requires more than the average kid in the way of attention, handling, and coverage, I’d say that Katrina owns the space of “top shelf mom” without any heavy lifting. Harold? He’s easy cheesy, but he’s another human to chase around, so that counts for something too, dammit.

My Shield Bearer

I guess we all think of things from our own lens, and with regards to how Katrina fits into my world, I’ve said this a million times: Katrina does two things very well. She lifts me up when I’m feeling low, and she pops my bubble when I’m too egotistical. Kat GETS me. She understands every facet of my weirdness. She knows that I tell the worst jokes. She appreciates that I am a little greedy and selfish. She knows that I’m a handful and crazy and that I am not always the easiest guy to get along with.

Great Friend

People who are Katrina’s real friends are blessed. They know her to be caring, loving, fiercely loyal, protective, and very generous with her attention and friendship. They know her to be creative, funny, bright, and someone with a strong emotional intelligence.

Kat’s the opposite of me in friend making. She has a small, tight-knit group of friends, and that’s it. She doesn’t mind meeting new people, but rarely sees the need to be friends with them, as much as she’d rather be civil (at least from my perspective, that’s how it all plays out).

So I’m blessed that she’s my friend, too.

December Birthdays

Kat’s birthday is a week before Christmas. What a bummer that can be. Her family has always done a great job of celebrating that birthday as a very separate event. We try to do the same. (And here’s where I delete all the stuff I want to say about how December is for me, but that I try).

So Happy Birthday

I love you. For everything I do that makes you happy, I wish it could be a thousand fold. For everything I’ve ever done that’s made you sad, I’m sorry. For everything we can do together in the years to come, I look forward to it and am glad you’re with me.

Thank you. And happy birthday, Katrina.

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