Tracey

Tracey Anderson, Mrs. Anderson, Mom, Miss Lees, Trace, Stace, Momma, and many more names come to mind when I think of my wife. She knows how I feel about her already, but I don't think I've ever publicly elaborated on all the reasons that I'm glad she's my wife, best friend and the wonderful mom to my children. This will be stream of consciousness and in no particular order. Generally speaking, she's the same funny woman I met in 1994, I think it was 1994, I have early onset dementia so it could have been 1995. I'm just kidding, I know it was 1994. I'm not quite sure if I'm joking about the early onset dementia though. I have some serious problems with my memory. Usually, my comprehensive recall is really good, the last couple of years it's been a little sketchy at times. I still have a lot of info in my head, but I'm concerned that remembering the content I'm teaching will be lost, and I'll have to start re-reading content the day before I cover a topic in my classrooms. Oh wait, this is supposed to be about my wife. I can't believe I'm typing this fast right now. It's crazy what two to four fingers can type when you don't worry about spelling and can just spell check later. :) Okay, back to Tracey. Not only is she the same funny person I met almost 20 years ago, but she is more beautiful, caring, intelligent and a better worrier than ever before. Seriously, I'm still attracted to my 42 year old wife. She still does it for me. Same old crackers, but I REALLY like those crackers. Even when she's not interested. Now, she can't read that at my eulogy. You can just skip that part hon.

I love that she always wants to plan fun stuff for the family. For example, we just got back from Vegas with the girls and she wanted to take them to the movies the next day. Since we are on vacation she wants to have fun with the family. The Vegas trip was fun, and very out of the ordinary. I would not normally want to take the girls there at such a young age but we planned the trip with ideas for them in mind. The highlight comment of the trip was Grace telling me "The casino is like Chuck E. Cheese's for adults." So true. Oh wait this is about Tracey. Did I mention the stream of consciousness? Welcome to tangent 101.

I love that Tracey and I can just hang and be content. We are like the old couple sitting at Coco's eating dinner in peace and quiet, not speaking to each other for the majority of the meal, because it's about the food not the conversation. There are only so many things you can talk about when you've been with someone for nearly two decades. I say that with teaching schedules in mind. We are currently on Christmas vacation. We still have things to talk about, but during Summer vacation we can go through stretches where there isn't anything new to talk about during a day. It's not like I'm coming home from work and can tell Tracey about how Brian walked into class and said "Okay, class let's get started, Mr. Anderson wants your attention, it's time to learn 'WHHOOOOH'" Life just plugs along on a daily basis and there isn't always something exciting to talk about.   If you can't hang with your wife in silence and be okay with that, then you should never be married. I'm not saying we just sit and stare at each other all the time. Half the time we are yelling at a kid to clean something up or planning something fun to do with the family.  This is another reason why I love Tracey, she is a planner of things. We can't just sit around the house watching the boob tube all day long. We have to get some fresh air and be active. I really appreciate that quality in my wife. This is one of the things that makes her such a great mom. The testament to this fact, is Grace always asking "what are we going to do today." As if it's a given that we will be doing something. Sarah on the other hand likes to be a home body.  I can relate. Some days, I just need to stay home and decompress. Tracey has this balance too, and I like that we usually balance out the doing of stuff with the hanging out and doing nothing. As a married couple we also have a good understanding of having personal time.  It's important to maintain that balance too. For example, she let's me play poker or hang with my friends and it's not a big deal. Unfortunately, I've witnessed couples that always have to do things together. I appreciate the fact that Tracey can go workout or get a massage or go to dinner with her friends to get some time for just her. That feeling is reciprocated in our relationship.

I also love her intelligence. Genetics speaks volumes in this regard. We have some really smart kids. This is a combination of good genes and good parenting. That's right, I'm bragging. We've done a good job of encouraging our kids to be readers. Tracey has been great about buying books, reading to the kids, checking homework, and staying on top of all the things that the girls need to be successful in school. She has also been great about making sure that they do other things too, such as enrolling them in dance and soccer. Tracey is intelligent enough to know that these foundational aspects that we pour into our kids is preparing them for a bright future.  When we met over 18 years ago I was attracted to Tracey physically, intellectually, and to her overall personality.  I was also attracted to her because I knew she was going to be a teacher and that spoke volumes about her character.

Now that she is teaching at Acacia, she is finally getting the positive parental feedback that she's deserved for the years of hard work she's invested in her students.  She worries about doing a good job, challenging her students, making sure she's using technology effectively, and reaching each kid. I'm proud to be married to a woman that strives for perfection in her job. I'm proud to know that she is doing such an amazing job in such a challenging environment, where everything is new. New Principal, new expectations, new socio-economic environment and new challenges.

As I tell Tracey all the time, I wouldn't change a thing about our relationship. I love her goofy personality and her serious personality.  I love her tiredness at 8:30 at night and her early morning workout regimen.  I love the lounging on the couch and the  5-day long camping trips. I love her worried personality (because it means she cares) and her carefree ability to ignore a mess until she can't take it anymore (and then finally starts ordering everyone around to clean up). I love that we have rubbed off on each other so much that we start acting and saying the same kinds of things.  Exhibit A would be her aggressive driving. Exhibit B would be Melissa Hypolite telling me how much Tracey reminds her of me. Hopefully, someday we will be that old couple that eats queitly together in peace, only it wont be Coco's, it'll probably be at Red Robin. I love my wife. I love Mrs. Anderson. And I love "Momma" and all the complex facets that make her who she is.