A Beautiful Acknowledgment

My husband's dissertation was delivered to the house yesterday. As in, the book form. I was on the phone with a dear friend when he opened the box. He walked into the room I was in and handed me a copy.

As I paged through this oh-so-familiar work in its reincarnated form, I noticed something new: the Acknowledgments page. Jeff wrote very sweet things to the girls, and I was not at all surprised. He is an amazing father who is both a rock and a cheering section for his daughters. He wrote lovely and well-deserved notes about his adviser and colleagues. I was a little nervous to read if and what he had written about me.

To give some background, I must tell you that to me, one of the most memorable scenes of all movies is when Jonathan Nash breaks down during his acceptance speech and thanks his wife in A Beautiful Mind.

You should also know that Jeff is surrounded by a lot of smart, strong women in his life. Women who are very accomplished and juggle an astonishing amount of things at one time. As much as I hate it, Jeff knows the depth and breadth of my weakness, while simultaneously being the one person I want most to be proud of me and think I am strong.

And perhaps the most glaring truth of all: I was not a quietly long-suffering wife during grad school.

This is what he wrote:

"Tiffany, the love of my life, believed in me, and always has, much beyond anything I deserve. No one should have had to give so many baths, do so many loads of laundry, listen to so many stories, transcribe so many interviews, critique so many ideas, edit so many chapters, and do so much for our girls on her own. I could not have done this without you. I would not have wanted to."

I was so touched I didn't even know what to say to him. So I didn't say anything. Every time I try to express how perfectly he spoke to me through that note, words fail me. It still leaves me dumbfounded when I catch glimpses of just how much he loves me.

Reference

Rozelle, J. (2010). Becoming a science teacher: The competing pedagogies of schools and teacher education. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest LLC.