My best friend is
my sweet husband Jake. I promise this won’t be a sappy love story; Jake really
is my inspiration. From the night we met, he has changed my life.
When I walked into Village Tavern on
January 8, 2011, all I was thinking about was enjoying a night out with my
girlfriends. Little did I know, I had been spotted. About an hour later, as our
friends were shamelessly flirting with each other, Jake and I struck up a
conversation.
We all ended up going to Green
Street in downtown Greensboro later that night. When we got to the door, we
were informed that it was Latino Night. We were the only six white people
there. Throughout the night Jake would show up at convenient times to save me
from unwanted dance partners. He would just stand there, and the floor around
me would clear out. That’s when I fell in love.
On our first real date, I was so
excited, I was literally bouncing up and down in the seat of the car. But I
looked over and noticed that Jake wasn’t smiling. I asked him, “Are you not
happy?” He wondered why I was asking. “Because you’re not smiling.” And with a
straight face he looked at me and said, “This is my happy face.”
The more I got to know Jake, the
more impressed I was with this simple, unassuming man. Despite losing the
(first) love of his life to heart disease at the tender age of 21, Jake still
had the courage to fall in love again. When he proposed, Jake merely showed me
the ring in an open box. Of course I told him I wouldn’t answer until he asked
the question. But that’s just him – my man of very few words.
Jake has shown me how special it can
be to just be. The more I’ve been around him, the less I’ve felt the need to
fill up every second with mindless chatter. Contentment doesn’t have to come
from a life full of crazy excitement. I never thought I could be the kind of
person who would say this, but: our modest life, in this beautiful place, is my
dream.
Though he loves sports, Jake stopped
playing them halfway through high school so he could start working. Over the
years he saved close to half of everything he earned. So when it came time for
us to buy and renovate our home last March, Jake was able to make a substantial
down payment. This means our house payment is less than anything we would have
been able to find to rent. As someone who enjoyed instant gratification all of
my adult life, this mindset has taught me so much. We now save 10% of everything
we make, only use cash, and are able to live very comfortably on an income well
below that of many of our peers.
Before we got married, I lived with
my parents. Translation: I never cooked. Jake, on the other hand, has lived
alone, and has always worked with meat. As a new bride, of course I wanted to
be the perfect wife. The first meal I prepared – or, ok, maybe the first few –
the meat didn’t quite get cooked all the way. Though Jake likes sushi, he
wasn’t impressed. But he never said anything. He would cautiously cut into the
chicken or steak…or fish…or hamburger, and subtly check the color. If it was
too pink, he would quietly take both our plates and finish cooking. I was
always so embarrassed, and may have even shed a few tears. But after a few weeks
of Jake’s patient and welcome help, I got better. One night about a month ago
when he said “You need to give my mama this recipe,” I knew I had arrived!
Jake has changed a lot too since we
got married. In the past eight months, he has put on 50 pounds. Of muscle. He
has been training to compete in powerlifting meets. I so admire his
perseverance. Regardless of how he feels, Jake has never once missed a workout.
I, on the other hand, have rarely kept up with working out.
Jake has a quiet strength. He is truly
my inspiration – not necessarily because of anything in particular that he
does, but because of who he is, and the way he lives his life, every day. In
every way, he will always be the sexiest man alive to me.
