When I think of my wife of over twenty-five years, this phrase comes to mind, Tanya is someone who is “full of life and love.” I still remember when we had made a decision to continue to see one another after the summer of ’89 the year of our high school graduation, despite the fact that we were going to separate universities, with a distance of one and a half hours between us, when I went to visit you for the first time in Goodnow dorm. We had decided to have an “open relationship” between us so we could go to Greek parties and explore dating options as we started college life on two separate campuses; we wanted to be “open-handed” with our relationship, not possessive. However, we were still so drawn to one another. I will never forget after driving to KSU, seeing you for the first time after having had a really fun summer together, being apart for a few weeks… the look in your eyes, the way you looked at me, so full of life and love. Of course, the “open relationship” thing wouldn’t last very long, because despite the initial thought we should keep one another “free,” we kept coming back to one another. I kept coming back to this warm, tender caring soul full of life and love. Through the years, we’ve had so many ups and downs, and yet, that moment at Goodnow, over thirty-two years ago now, has signified for me what marriage and family have been through the years, full of life and love. It’s the depth of Tanya’s compassion, ability to touch someone by her caring in small moments of life, meeting someone for the first time, taking care of someone’s kids, taking care of our kids, taking care of mom in her last days, being a friend to so many. Her laugh. Oh my goodness. Her laugh that makes her so Tanya. It’s a beautiful, festive and yes, even hilarious laugh that she not only enjoys while experiencing and expressing, but that everyone else who is with her is brought into like a beachfront vacation or mountaintop experience all right there in the simple moment of an ordinary day, which with her is rarely ordinary at all. It’s the color and beauty I’ve always been able to see through her eyes, a life enhanced by so many textures, layers and hues, by simply being with her. I will never forget the way she looked at me back in Goodnow dorm back in ’89, a look that grabbed the deepest part of my heart and began a friendship, life partnership and family, indeed a marriage, with which I have been immeasurably blessed for over thirty-two years now. Thank you my beautiful Tanya for being so full of life and love. You are my heart, my love, my Beloved. Here is a tribute to you through the years! God is so good.
