Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The Ideal Man

How many of us were asked at some point during our schooling, be it public, private, or spiritual, to make a list of attributes of our ‘ideal man’ (or woman). I know I had the assignment multiple times. It seems like the moral of the exercise was that your list might have things that ‘would be nice to have’, but you really should narrow it down to things that were essential to have a successful, loving relationship. Basically, a person was missing the point if their top priorities in a companion were things like good hair, good fashion sense, hot body, and other seemingly shallow desires. The real important things were things like sharing life goals, making each other laugh, being close to God (if that’s important to you), etc. So I kind of had the impression, from these list-making exercises that you shouldn’t count on getting everything you wanted on that list. Imagine my surprise when, during the course of dating my fiancé, I realized that not only did he have the essential things, he also had the ‘inconsequential’ things, plus a bunch of other bonuses I didn’t even think were possible to find in one man. I really didn’t think such a man existed! For example, it’s strange, but for some reason when I was younger I always imagined myself with someone very Italian-looking. You know, tall, dark, thick dark hair, chiseled features. I couldn’t really imagine being with someone who actually WAS Italian, just someone with that look. Oddly enough, I never dated anyone with that look. Until Greg came along. Physically, this guy was the picture I had always had in my mind of who I would be with, so I was naturally interested in what else he had to offer. Amazingly, he had everything to offer me. We had the same interests, he made me laugh, I could go on and on, and probably will at some other time and place, so I restrain myself here. Another silly example: When Disney’s Tarzan (the movie) was released in theatres I was very excited to see it. I watched it at the Villa theatre in Salt Lake City, and I was enchanted. Not just with the musical score, the cute adaptation, the wit of Minnie Driver’s ‘Jane’, but with Tarzan himself. Seriously, the dude is a cartoon, but I was really getting into this whole idea of finding my very own Tarzan. It dawned on me the other day, “I did!”. Now, perhaps the most obvious connection that people have made with Greg’s ‘look’ is that of the most amazing human to walk the earth: Jesus Christ. Come on, people. It’s undeniable.So, I like to think that somehow, I found the perfect cross between Tarzan: “King of Apes”, and Jesus Christ: “King of Kings”. Is that blasphemous? I’m not trying to be, I just feel like the luckiest girl on the face of the planet to be marrying the man who is the surprising combination of all the men I think are perfect. I love you, Greg!

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