Richie is so good to me.

The comment I get the most when I tell people that I have returned to medical school after nine years out with two children and a husband in tow is something like, "Wow. Brave. You must be very busy!" Right away I feel guilty because I know that my husband has absorbed 100% of what I no longer do. Last night, I came home a little late because I'd been practicing for my lab dissection demonstration (my "demo"), and he was in the middle of making a double recipe of lentil-chickpea stew. He told me to go into the living room and play with the girls. Not set the table, not help out in the kitchen; go enjoy our children.

After we had eaten the delicious meal of stew with bread and cheese, he took the girls upstairs and did bedtime routine with them so that I could study. Then he went to the gym and told me to leave the dishes for him. He came home and did the dishes. Then he stayed up until I was ready to go to bed - 11:45. This from a man who prefers a bedtime of 9:45. He stays up with me because one of the pillars of our marriage has always been to go to bed at the same time. It's like pressing the reset button on our connection for the day. Plus, and I am the luckiest person in the world because he reads me to sleep. (We are still working our way through Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.)

But last night I was extra-stressed because my demo was at 8 a.m. this morning and I have a test on Friday (that I am about to start studying for). So I was sad and I cried a little once I got into bed, mainly because of tragedy in the world and feeling inadequate and out-of-control. You know, the usual. Richie massaged my hair and told me it will be okay. Then he read me to sleep. He was so tired that he fell asleep in the middle of a sentence.

I assert that I am THE highest-maintenance wife this side of the Mississippi. Richie has served me extravagantly over the past several months; last night was one of many (most) where he bends over backwards to make things easy for me. I am so thankful.

So when people say, "Oh, you must be very busy," I immediately reply, "Actually, my husband is the one who really makes it possible. He does all the work." The more accurate answer would be that I am more well-cared-for than any other med student on the face of the planet. This is a team effort. Although I am the one actually enrolled in school, Richie is Team Captain. I love him. I LOVE him.