I love you just the way you are; so stop changing!!!

My Mama like hers before her had a lot of sayings. Words of wisdom passed on in little sayings that most would over look or consider nonsensical. One such saying that hit me at just the right time, it was a time when I first started dating and found most girls to be a conundrum. The saying; here it is; “pretty is as pretty does”. True enough I thought because most of the girls I knew although pretty on the outside did not do very pretty, reveling that the inside (or hart) of the person was far from pretty. This set my standard for the person I wanted to share my life with. I would find the one that was pretty and did pretty. The pearl among women as the bible calls it.

And so I found her; the one girl that was just as pretty on the inside as she was on the outside; I married her and we had three children and have shared 32 years together. So in this blog I want to share with you the girl of my dreams and our history together.

Angie is natural beauty.

In this picture she is wearing the same dress she wore on our first date. I could not take enough pictures of her in this dress. The purple ribbons and flowers in the material highlighted her complexion and brown eyes. I fell in love with her at first sight (by the way she made this dress).

In our first apartment we made a home and got to know each other. She was the same as the girl I dated. Kind, loving and generous to a fault; below is a picture I took of her in a rocker I bought our first Christmas together.

Boy; am I a lucky guy or what!!

I could share a multitude of picture with you that showcase her beauty, but this blog is not long enough and some of the pictures I do not have with me (these first pictures are pictures of pictures so forgive the quality). But you get the idea.

In the picture below is how she looked after three children born very close to each other. Yes I made her pull the top down a little to show off her shoulders and she will probably kill me for showing this picture; but my point is this. She has always tried to look her best; she has taken what nature blessed her with and highlighted it. Not in a vain way (to say she is vain is to show you do not know her at all); but to make herself look her best for me and for herself. She has always told me if it makes you feel better about yourself then you should do it; you should feel good about yourself no matter what others think.

She is so humble about the way she looks that she will not take a complement very well and has often passed them off, that is just the way she is. The one reason I love the above picture and wanted to show it to you is this, if you look close you can see the humility in her eyes as if to say "why is he taking another picture of me, why does he think I'm pretty". Because you are baby, you've always been the prettiest girl in the world to me

And so after thirty years of marriage; I took this picture and put it up at my desk at work.

I start noticing a lot of guys hanging around my desk staring at this picture. One finely got up the courage to ask… Is this your daughter? No I said (proudly); it’s my wife! What!! (He said) Did you rob the cradle; she has to be in her early thirties. No; I said (now perturbed) she is a year younger than me. I had this same conversation with many that looked at this picture. One even said; boy Randy’s been hiding her from us, who knew he was this lucky.

Yes my mom had it right; pretty is as pretty does. I also believe that pretty inside will manifest it’s self on the outside as well. And I believe Angie is living proof of that. After all these years to me she looks the same as the girl I met in the door way at her parent’s house and took out on our first date together and in other ways she has changed and redefined herself. And I’m still blinded by her beauty.

Now recently she has lost a good bit of weight. She, like I have always had to fight the issue of gaining and losing weight. But unlike me she has never let it define who she is or how she feels about herself. And also unlike I she has always (since the first day we met) ate right; she eats light and hardly ever overeats anything. She also tried to pass on good eating habits to our sons, who up until they could buy their own food were thin and healthy. But I ashamed to say “I” was a bad influence on them….sorry guys.

Back to Angie…

Okay now we’re all concerned about Angie “oh my God…she’s too thin”; we must have an intervention. So she had to have her gallbladder taken out and it changed her eating habits and the way her stomach works. So she can’t eat fried foods, she’s lacteous intolerant and now she is mostly a vegetarian. Aren’t those supposed to be good things? We have been told for years to cut out the fried stuff and too much dairy will make you fat. I was concern to at first because it is a shock and she has lost it fast. But I can not begrudge her for achieving something at age 53 that she has deserved all her life. Trust me she may eat light; but she is eating right. So let’s be happy for her. She has done all this without once making a big announcement (HEY I’M GOING ON A DIET!!); or telling everyone how much weight she has lost. I have never known how much she has ever weighed and I guess I will go to my grave never knowing. And what does it matter because her sprite has always been as light as a feather and you know an angels feet never touch the earth.

If you’re overweight you will be judge and looked upon differently; it is the one last acceptably prejudice. Women are thought to be less beautiful somehow (and saying she has a pretty face dose not let you off the hook). Men will snub their nose at the girl with a few extra pounds as they stand there with a gut hanging over their belts. Men are thought to be lazy and dumb and have no will power all because of being overweight. A few extra pounds does not change the person you are on the inside unless you let it. I still want to be the great adventure I feel like I am. But I have let my weight hold me back.

Once again Angie is my example; while I stumble around having a hard time with my knees; she is out walking me, doing yoga and not letting anyone hold her back (as we all saw when she ran off and left us in down town Savannah with Emaline in her arms all because she did not want to be late for our reservations).

Angie; after thirty two years you’re still changing and rocking my world; you have always been the person I long to be; how could I love you more; how could I be so lucky. Of all the wrong I’ve done, knowing and loving you is the one thing right in my life.

I once overheard someone say this about me and I quote; "if you know anything about Randy, you know he loves his wife". If that one thing defines me, then I'm proud it does. When God answers your prayers and fulfills your dreams how can you help but be thankful.