Today is the start of something special even though it’s just a Monday for most of you and something you are not looking forward to. However most of us can’t get to the weekend without having a starting point of some kind, so for most of us, Monday is it.
This Monday is different. This Monday celebrates the life of my hubby Steven Smith. He is turning 41 today. It seems like he has been 40 forever. Nice rounded off number with a zero at the end and probably one of the best numbers we would like to see before we hit the big 50. Steve and I joked about it some time ago that once you hit 40, you have to begin to take numbers off and begin to count backwards from there. So if that is the case he is turning 39 today.
Christmas Photo at Disneyland
Steve is the youngest of a family of three and had never been married prior to us meeting. I met him when I became his boss as a Service Manager for L.A. Cellular back in 1996. I heard he was going to be the most difficult part of my job in taking on this position because he was the rumored bad boy. Argumentative, hostile, and definitely not a team player.
Yikes, just what was I getting myself into?
Turns out rumors were all they were. He had passion and creativity to want to make things better. However people got in his way that weren’t willing to open up and listen to him. So that is what I did, I listened and let him run wild and free. He created our service bay’s design plans for what would make their work easier. I let him have all the creative freedom. It turned out to be a blessing because I gained his respect and our bay became one of the biggest profit generating service centers in the company. We became the model for what others hoped to become.
Steve and the girls at Knott's Berry Farm 2008.
Yet in the midst of this, I found my soul mate. I was in the midst of a messy divorce and messier child custody battle with my ex. I found comfort in my friend at that time. He was in a long-term relationship at that time and simply became someone who returned the favor, and listened when I needed someone to pour my heart out to. His heart was simply made of pure gold. I often teased Steve to this day, that God revealed his soul to me the day I met him and I saw what others failed to see. I got a glimpse of his soul.
Three years later, we were married. It wasn’t the marriage you dream of. No white dress, no tux for him. Just standing in a courthouse in Lake Havasu City with his parents and Aunt and we spoke our vows to each other. We had our first meal at Carl’s Jr. and I saved the cup that day and wrote in sharpie pen that it was our wedding glass. We got married in jeans and normal clothes that we could wear long after our wedding. We still laughed most days whenever we went out; to wear our wedding clothes since no one would notice but us. Love all those inside jokes.
Steve and Kailee on their date night!This is an amazing man that so many of us women look for all our lives and only some are fortunate to find. God revealed His plans for us long ago, by interlocking our hearts together that no matter how far we moved away from one another, we eventually find our way home together.
He has an amazing kind and gentle heart. He will willingly do things for others without a second thought. He has helped our neighbors more times than they will ever pay him back. He tried to save the lives of 4 children and a woman who drove their pick up truck into an aqueduct one April and jumped into freezing waters without a second thought that he, himself just might lose his life. He has helped motorcyclists that have laid their bikes down while passing people on dangerous mountain roads and waiting for help to arrive. He said to me once that his dream job would have been a fire fighter and I can see just why. He loves to help people. To me, he already had that job and still to this day remains a hero to his family.
I know without a doubt that God sent Steve to me. I had completely lost faith that such a man existed and even when I found him, didn’t know what this beautiful man would see in me. When I met Steve, I was broken, battered and completely filled with self-doubt. I met in him someone who saw the person I could become with a little love and a lot of band-aids! With God’s healing hands, Steve made me into the person I am today. He gave me back trust that was robbed of so many years of neglect. He loves unconditionally and is not only my best friend, but also my soul mate and husband all rolled into one.
He loves the colors black and teal. Loves Nutter Butters and Froot Loops! His favorite food would probably be Seared Ahi with salad topped off with Blue Cheese dressing. He loves the mountains and has dreamed of a cabin by the lake as a way to spend our last years on this earth together. His favorite movies are those martial arts films like Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger, anything by Bruce Lee and even will admit to loving some chick flick movies like Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail. He loves Bugs Bunny cartoons and simply adores Kermit the frog. He can even do a perfect Kermit imitation if you ask! He can quilt, sew better than I can, and now has his own blog called Gotta Have Faith.
One of the things I love the most about him is that we can speak an unspoken language at times. We share a look and both of us instantly know what the other is thinking without saying anything. No one understands it but us! We are just that in tune with one another.
So I celebrate his life today all 41 years of it, and I can only ask that if God allows it, we will begin to build even more happy memories together raising our two wonderful kids, Caitlyn, his step daughter and Kailee our daughter together.
Happy Birthday Steve! You are the best present anyone could ever wish for! If you want to wish Steve a Happy Birthday, hop on over to his blog, Gotta Have Faith!
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