Who You Are

Another poem (kind of) for LG. 
Don't expect any of you to make it all the way through. 
And LG may hope that you don't, as it gives away all his secrets.
Heck, LG may not even make it through this one.
It's a doozie.

Who you are
To me.

You are choice between diet mountain dew or A&W rootbeer.
And an empty bag of BBQ chips.
You are love that is better than ice-cream.
You are sunrise, sunrise,
I can see it in your eyes.

You are kisses all around.
You are always kind.
But never kind enough to yourself.
You are sometimes down.
And sometimes crazy.
But I am the only one that knows that.

You are the guy

with great teeth
and you don't even have to floss.

You are the man
who I love by my side
in the bed,
on the trail,
and
at the movies.

You are amazing calves
that can still dunk
any day.
And a bad ankle
that keeps you
grounded.

You are a little boy
I want to hug.

You are let it be
and sunshine on my shoulders.

You are fall leaves,
and rain on the metal eave,
open windows
to let in the sound.
You are the one
who holds me
in a Southern Storm
or watches in awe
the Western lightening
scrawl across the sky.

You are a child of God
who deserves unconditional love.

You are a mighty man
who holds the priesthood of God
and can move mountains.

You are the equivalent of a PHD,
even though you say you aren't
and that you think PHD's are stupid.

You are all tough

and swerve to hit the squirrels

and say you are gonna get rid of

that damn dog

and I catch you 

scratching and loving

the pet

and cuddling with the cat

while simultaneously

trying to shoot the crows

and you are a wonder to me

because I know you can handle

all the heartaches that I can't.

And you can bury the pets

without shedding a tear,

yet you remain gentle.

You are a living paradox.

And you love smelly candles

and massages

yet wear the same old ratty T-shirt

because you don't want to be a

metro-sexual

but a truly heterosexual

manly man.

Which you are.

But you love smelly candles.

And fondue.

You are in the wink of an eye

and Mormon Tabernacle choir.
And listening to you
listen to music
is like a spiritual experience.
Listening to you talk to your kids
about music
is like heaven to my soul.

And I haven't even got started
about how sexy it is
when you play the piano
or quote Robert Frost.

You are dirty blonde,
and a toehead,
and mostly bald.
Your stubble up top
makes my hands tremble.

You are a fast typer
and a fast thinker
and fast with your
jokes.
And that's about all you do fast.
Unless we count when you fidget.

You are a slow kisser.
A slow driver
and a slow reader,
but not to me.
To me,
you read the fastest.

You have perfect timing.
And against all odds
you have learned to be a good gift giver
which means everything.

You are a blinker
and a concentrator
and either do
one or the other.

You are the guy

who reads kids' books

and plays video games

to bond with your kids.

Or they do it

to bond with you.

Not sure which

would be more accurate.

You totally own it

when I catch you laughing

at

The Wizards of Waverly Place

or Ponyo.

And you are proud of it.

And that makes me proud.

Because you are the best dad.

The best.

Anywhere.

You are the maker upper of games

that you like to play

with your buddies

in the front yard.

You are goof-ball

and I am one of the only

privileged ones to know 

that side of you.
And I love it when
you let others
see the part of you
that is fun and carefree.

You are a strong strong spirit

who fights every day.

And loves your God

and your Savior.

You are an amazing

teacher

that can explain

the most

complex

things to

a person

of any age

or

IQ.

You are the forgetter

of where you left your wallet.

And the loser of

at least 7 weddding bands.

One for every other year

just to keep things

new

fresh

and

exciting.

You are the best district leader

to the bold kisser

to the man I married.

And you were so handsome.

And still are.

You are my Matt Damon.

You are the handler of taxes.

And computers

and TV's

and DVD players

and anything

with a cable.

You are hiding

away your change

so you can one day

buy an I-pad,

which you may want 

even more than that newest phone.

You are

the lover of

electronics.

All

electronics.

Even the remote control watch.

You are the disliker

of make-up,

and girls in immodest clothes,

and boys

who like your girls.

You are asleep

by 10 p.m.

and a snorer all night

on your back or side

but never on your stomach

and up at the 

beep of the alarm clock.

Up and at 'em.

It never seizes to amaze me.

Until I hear

the shower running

for at least a 1/2 hour.

Every morning.

And then I realize

why you are happy 

to get up early.

So you can sit in the bathtub

while the water runs

over you

waking you up.

You are the lover

of a hot breakfast

and rarely complain

that you didn't marry

your mom
but instead a woman

who would
only cook for you

in the morning
on your birthday
or on Father's Day
or when we have company.

You are the 

I can do without dessert

kind of person

but bring on 

the wings.

You are the man who is still

waiting for his BBQ grill out back

and his honeymoon

and his Cadillac

and his dreams to come true.

Yet you are usually content.

And worry about giving more to

your family,

then you take for yourself.

And that is such a turn on.

It makes me want to give you

that flat screen T.V.

that you still can only dream about.

You are the misser

of Atari

and your own

Pop A Shot

and

the days when

things were simpler and

your game boy

was in pristine condition

and you knew where

all the games were

at all times.

Instead of having to look

through the couch cushions for them.

You are the player of

Pretty Pretty Princess.

and completely honest

when you say you don't 

need a son.

You have the patience of Job,

which makes you the best dad.

But it also makes your life hard.

Because I guess God knows you 

can handle hard stuff.

You are a hater of 

sand in your craw.

And mean girls.

And injustice.

And you are

just like me

and always on the side

of the underdog.

You are a perfectionist

even though you won't admit it.

You are an avoider

of things emotional

or overwhelming

or out of your expertise

because you are perfectionist.

You are a jumper off roofs

and you are the man

who could only

stand or lay on his back

for a whole year

of law school,

but you never gave up.

And you still help people

move their furniture

even though you've had a disk

surgically repaired.

You are an appreciator of foods,

and always up for

trying something new
and the hole in the wall spot.

And never order the same thing twice

unless it's

chicken fried steak.
Or that salad
that your age
has forced upon you.

You are always anxious
about change
and you don't like uncertainty.

You are empathetic
and loving
and overly accommodating
to everyone but yourself.

You are a guy
who can lose 50 pounds
in two months
when you put your mind to it.

You are the kid
who thinks that there
is always something
better on the other side.

Your weakness does not define you
as neither does your strength.
What defines you
is you.
And I want you to know
that more than anything
this me
wants that you
to see you
as I see you.

You are self conscience
and self deprecating
and I want you to see
who you are
to me
and
who you are to Him

so you can
see who you really are.

Because who you are
is so much better
than who you know.