Not Thora

This is not Thora. Not at all. This is, in fact, Thora's husband Avram, of whom you may have heard tell. I have commandeered this 'blog in order to praise my darling Thora. You may have noticed that my dear Lady does not 'blog near as often as she used to. You may even have lamented this fact, and you are right to do so, for my wife's writing can be a joy to read. The simple fact of the matter is that Thora does not have the kind of uninterrupted time which is most conducive to 'blogging. Know, however, that she does miss it, and that she will liably return to it some day. Life moves in troughs and valleys, and Thora is quite busy right now, finding her feet after a third child, a major illness and a move. She is doing a very good job of it, too.

I actually didn't hijack Thora's 'blog for the purpose of explaining the relative paucity of her posts, however. Rather, I took over here, as I have done in previous times to praise my lovely and beloved wife. She does so much for our family, and our household, and like most stay-at-home mothers, rarely gets the positive feedback and validation which is by justice hers. This is my (public) way of demonstrating how important her private acts are. Thora is a wonder with all three of our girls--from Lydia's dynamism to Elisheva's giving stubbornness to little Guinevere's emergent personality; Thora is able to handle it all. She deals all day, every day with bodily fluids of every kind imaginable, and does with a smile. Out of financial and environmental concerns, Thora recently switched us over to cloth diapering--the brunt of which she bears on her own, for I am not home near as often as she. This is but one example of the great service she does for the family. As another, in order to more fully illustrate the depth of my Lady's largesse: just yesterday my wife made pumpkin bread for a youth fireside, for me to take, while I was still at a presidency meeting. Her support of me in my calling is help and strength to me.

Indeed, all of Thora's support of me is a help and a strength. I do not forget, if indeed I could, that Thora chose to marry me when she had other choices, and I am grateful to Father for her every day. To paraphrase Mark Twain's Eve: "I am not so necessary to her as she is to me." She is indeed "necessary" to me. I cannot imagine life without Thora, nor indeed would I wish to. Whenever I speak of Thora, I find myself struggling to express with mere words, what my heart feels, which is why so often I go to poets and other authors, whose command of English surpasses my own feeble skills. There are no good words to express how important Thora is to me--I love her smile, her laugh. Even her frown. There is no doubt that Thora is more than I deserve, and more than I could have hoped for. She indeed, "almost makes the day begin" for me (the actual privilege of making my day begin goes to Lydia and her inability to sleep past about 6:45--but far be it from me to ruin a splendid metaphor through simple reality).

I must close this, wholly inadequate, praise of my wife, for I have a paper to write, and I reckon that my wife would much rather I work on that than spend more time weaving her praises. She is, of course, right. So, I will end merely by observing "how much I ardently love and admire her, " and a final paraphrase from Twain to end things: "Wherever she is, there is Eden."

I love you, Lady.