Friend a Day – Patricia Wick

Photo by Peter Verrant

24 years ago today, I married my best friend.  Because she is still my best friend, it only makes sense that she would be my subject for today’s blog.

Pat is one of the smartest people I know.  When I’m trying to work through my opinion on something, I will always ask her opinion because if she doesn’t agree with me, I am probably wrong.  She can beat me at just about any game except cribbage and when she tells me how she did it, I feel like an idiot because I didn’t try the same thing myself.  If I try the same thing the next time we play, she’ll beat me some other way.

There is only one person in my home who can find something when it is lost and that’s her.  It doesn’t matter if she’s never even seen that thing, when one of the other three people in the house ask her where it is, she’ll probably know.  That she tolerates our ignorance never fails to impress me.

We talk about a lot of things and argue about very little.  She laughs at my jokes, which in endearing and so very polite.

She supports all of the theater work I’ve been doing lately and that is invaluable.  It takes me away from the family far more than I like and her patience is amazing.  Without her patience, it would be hard for me to do any of what I do.

When I write something, she is always my first beta reader and not just because we live in the same house.  If I’m writing comedy, I want to know if she’ll laugh.  If I can get her to laugh out loud even once, I figure I’ve managed to write something at least a little bit amusing.

She’s also willing to be critical.  She’ll tell me when something doesn’t work.  She’ll tell me when a lyric sounds wrong.  I may not always agree and I may not always make the change but she is never someone to rubber stamp my work and tell me it is perfect.

If you ask me what the secret to a long marriage might be, I’m afraid I don’t have great answers.  For me, though, I know the secret is that I married someone I liked a lot.  I never tire of spending time with her.  A walk around the lake with her is the most pleasant way to spend an hour that I can imagine.

24 years is a long time but I know I’m married to the right person because it doesn’t feel like all that much time at all.

Happy Anniversary, Pat.  I love you!

Thanks for being my best friend.