She didn't have a cow

I married the right woman. 23 hours after I accidentally bought 2 cows and wondered how to explain it to my wife, she took the news like any strong woman would. She cried.

She'd already received an email about the new "pets," so when I softly brought up the "unexpected purchase" she was ready to hear about the new rooster or baby chicks. I tried several hints to up the ante - bigger, manure-making, grass-eating, MUCH bigger- but her imagination wouldn't let her go any higher than rabbits and sheep.

- um, well, cow actually
- WHAT?! A cow?!
- um, well, two cows. Cute little baby bull calves

She left the room to go to the bathroom, then came back with the same incredulous voice, "Cows?!" As it slowly sank in and i explained how perfectly rational it all was, she just started to laugh. Upon hearing that "it turns out we have to bottle-feed them for the first months" the laughter became uncontrollable with tears streaming down her face. "You are a special man," was about all she could spurt out.

I am the luckiest man alive to have a woman who so thoroughly understands and appreciates me. Sometimes tolerates, but in this case fully embraces the zany part of me that jumps headlong into adventures and learning and new roles and fun. She may not have seen these cows coming, but she saw this life coming exactly 10 years ago when we sat in the gardens of a Bahai temple in Chicago and wrote our wedding vows, including

to walk together down this path we have chosen
to dance, to celebrate, to create Joy
embracing and drawing out the beauty in each other and the world