Last Updated on February 4, 2023 by The Smetz Files
Warning: Husband Appreciation Post!
I imagine there will be many posts of gratitude directed to Jay for various reasons in the future, but I couldn’t launch the blog, or really any dream, without paying tribute to the unending support he provides. In my dissertation acknowledgements, I wrote:
To Jay, you have been our family’s ‘Ace’, you have come in ‘in relief’, and you have been the ‘closer’ throughout this journey. It is your vision and discipline that made my professional work possible.
That sentiment still holds true. Never one to shy away from a sports analogy, especially baseball, I wanted to pay tribute to the behind the scenes support and big ways he shows up daily, but always in life’s biggest moments.
Opposites Attract
We are opposites in so many ways: he’s from New England, I was raised in the South. Jay wakes up before his alarm, bright eyed and bushy-tailed, eager to start his day, whereas I’m the roll over and push snooze for just five more minutes girl; he could have been a NASCAR driver, I avoid driving whenever possible. He is fiscally responsible, and let’s just say I push the boundaries of defining wants versus needs! Jay is analytical, precise, and well planned; I am thoughtful, at times disorganized, and instinctive. He’s tall, I’m short (shout out to the under 5’2” ladies!).
On paper we are diametrically opposed in many ways. But we make a good team, in fact in our decades long relationship, we’ve been together over half our lives, we’ve turned straw into gold, a la Rumplestiltskin. We have encouraged each other through multiple degrees, career changes, having children, home renovations (so many renos), medical events, and the mundane day to day that makes life, well life. We’ve had to reset and regroup when life has thrown us curve balls (gotta love that baseball metaphor!) and we’ve celebrated when we’ve hit it out of the park (who’s keeping score at this point?!). We’ve done it together and perhaps that’s our greatest accomplishment.
So, to our family’s Ace, thank you for being my constant and the executor behind so many of our dreams. I am endlessly grateful.
xoxo,
Smetz
