My Beautiful Wife

Preface

This is a different post.

This is very personal and more creative.

This is a gift to my wife.

Though beauty is not the most important characteristic of a person I do want to celebrate how I view my wife. (I have another post where I describe other aspects I admire and love about my wife entitled The Woman I Love)

I wrote this years ago and sent it just to my wife. We recently celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary and I was looking back on old memories and found this and decided to share it with you.

Introduction

A few years ago I was introduced to “The Beauties” by Anton Chekhov, as I read it my wife came to mind. I was so moved by the descriptions found in that short story that I decided to write similarly regarding my wife. In writing this I did borrow portions from Chekhov's work modifying and adapting it to my wife.

My Beautiful Wife

Coming home after a long day and seeing your radiant beauty I feel all at once as though a wind were blowing over my being and blowing away all the impressions of the day with their dust and dreariness. I see the captivating features of the most beautiful face I have ever met in real life or my dreams. Before me stands a rare and unequaled beauty, and I recognize that at first glance as I would recognize lightning.

I am ready to swear that you are a real beauty, but I don't know how to prove it. Like a Texan sunset, seen by many on their way home after a long day of work, all agree it is remarkably beautiful, yet no one knows nor can fully describe in what its beauty lies.

An artist would call your beauty classical and severe, it is just that beauty, the contemplation of which -- God knows why!-- inspires in me the conviction that I am seeing correct features; that hair, eyes, nose, mouth, and every movement of the body all go together in one complete harmonious accord, without blunder, down to the smallest details. I feel it in my heart for some reason that the ideally beautiful woman must have a nose such as yours, just such great brown eyes, such long lashes, such a loving glance; I fancy that your brown curly hair and eyebrows go with your soft tanned brow and cheeks as the red bloom of the rose goes with its green petals. Your delicate features are such that I fancy a sculptor would need a great creative genius to mold them. I gaze, and little by little the desire comes over me to say to you something extraordinarily pleasant, sincere, and beautiful, as beautiful as you are.

I feel your beauty rather strangely. I feel desire, ecstasy, and enjoyment that you excite in me, but a painful though pleasant sadness. A sadness, vague and undefined, as I realize that activities of the day will take me away from your immediate presence.

You possess a rare beauty. Perhaps it is accidental, or unnecessary, nevertheless, I count it a great joy and a real blessing to contemplate you, for you possess a real and exceptional beauty that emanates from not only your physical features but also from your kind and loving heart.

You are thoroughly beautiful, and that is unmistakable to me and to anyone who looks at you.

If I were to describe your beauty feature by feature, as some like to do, it would take volumes to contain it, and I would be bound to run out of words to describe it. Your thick wavy brown hair is lovely, especially as it hangs loosely over your delicate shoulders. You make the impression of being really beautiful, on all who have the pleasure of beholding you. I am able to feel convinced that your face does not need any aid from makeup or anything like it in order to be lovely; what is more, that if instead of your features, if anything was to be changed or altered, it would take away from your beauty, for nothing could add to it.

The whole secret and magic of your beauty remain a mystery to me. But I know that it lies even in just your tiny, infinitely elegant movements, in your smile, in the features of your face, in your furtive glances at me, in the combination of the subtle grace of your movements with your determination, even your spontaneity. Everything about you adds to your loveliness, especially the purity of your soul that can be heard in your laughter and voice. It could be compared to a butterfly's beauty in keeping with waltzing, darting about the garden, with laughter and freedom, and yet paradoxically also with serious thought, responsibility, and repose.

What a wonderful blessing that I can contemplate and admire your beauty despite my inability to properly describe it or comprehend it.

I love you Vanessinha,

today and forever.

Marlon

Based on “The Beauties” by Anton Chekhov

For audio of me talking about my marriage check out I Am Grateful For My Wife.

Which was followed by my wife and I discussing our relationship and answering questions that were sent to us you can listen to them here The Relationship Post Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.