Compliments... much needed compliments

Something happened that I wanted to share with everyone.  It may seem to everyone who reads my blog and my statuses on facebook that I do nothing but bitch.  I really don't mean it to come out that way.  Life with mito is hard.  This blog chronicles just that.. my life with mito.  As my "about me" section says, "this is my outlet for all of the trials and tribulations my illness has brought me."  After all, there are many more trials and tribulations than comfort and happiness.

However, as time passes I learn how to live with this disease as well as accept the life that I am stuck with living  because of it.  Because of that, the "bitching" isn't near as bad as it was when this all started 3 years ago.  I have also been able to appreciate the few advantages to having mitochondrial disease, as few as there may be. The biggest one being that I am there for my daughters more often... primarily when they get home from school everyday.

One of the other things that I appreciate is how wonderful of a husband I have.  I could not have asked for a better husband to stick with me through all of this.  I try to thank him every day at least once.  I don't know what I would do without him.  Seriously... I'd be ROYALLY screwed!!!  He's such a great husband and father.  We have always been the type of couple who splits the duties (cleaning, laundry, taking care of the kids, etc.) 50/50.  When I got sick, he stepped up to the plate to do everything that needs to be done... no questions asked, no complaints, no bitching, no moaning.  Very rarely do I hear him complain about anything.  If he does complain, it's not about the things he has to do, it's about his back hurting, being tired, or our teenager, well, being a teenager.

Like I said before, I try to make sure to thank him as often as possible.  Every birthday, xmas, father's day, etc. I give him a card and tell him how awesome he is.  So, he should know how much I appreciate him.  However, that's just me.  He doesn't hear from others how incredible of a job he does.... until now.

Last week my husband got a phone call from someone at a bank.  She said that he had won an award that someone had nominated him for and he needed to call her back to make arrangements to pick up his prize.  We both looked at each other strangely, both wondering if it was a prank or some sort of trick to get him to buy something. (We'll give you 3 free nights in Hawaii as a prize, but you have to pay for the first 10.)  He called the person back who proceeded to prove us wrong.  She said that a friend of his, who shall remain nameless even though we know who it is because he wanted it that way, nominated him for this award.  If she gave more details of the "contest" or award my husband didn't pass that information on to me.  This friend had written a short essay describing why my husband should win this prize and they picked him!

This was all SOOO awesome to begin with.  Of course, the prize itself added to how cool it was.  But, the best part of all was what his friend wrote on the nomination form (they let him have a copy of it when he picked up his prize).  I want to share with everyone what was on the nomination form.  I am SO proud of my husband.  However, I am always proud of him and I recognize on a daily basis how incredible he is.  The fact that someone else recognized how incredible he is made me happy on so many levels.

Here is what he wrote...

Chris is an extremely hard working man that spends almost every waking moment putting forth the effort to provide for his family.  A few years ago his wife became very ill.  To make ends meet, Chris works long hours as a warehouse manager and he does odd jobs for extra money including computer repair and handyman jobs.  He has two beautiful daughters and a wife, whom he loves very much.  He makes all of the dinners, helps with homework, does the laundry and housework.  The most amazing thing is I have never heard him complain.  He is the type of man you are proud to call your friend.  He doesn't deserve the hand he's been dealt in life but he's playing his cards the best he can.  He spreads joy by being an inspiration of what kind of person we could all aspire to be.
______

I couldn't have said it better myself.  Thank you.