The Prettiest girl in the Holler’... another love note.

22 years later I still struggle to keep up with her pace when those lovely long legs step it out for an afternoon walk. She recognizes this and offers an evening stroll in flipflops. Gladly I accept because it means another opportunity to walk hand in hand – sometimes in silence – other times with a conversation starter that she pours out and I take over. With or without the playful, energetic, 9-month-old puppy in tow, a walk with my beautiful wife is one of my favorite ways to pass the time.

She’s the prettiest girl in the Holler’… my Michele.

She’s given me 3 wonderful children and let me interject my fatherly ways from time to time. But the truth is, she’s the Captain of this ship. Mom’s always been the one they run to for money, for permission and for help filling out a FAFSA. Her tech-savvy, organizational skills make her the obvious choice over me with anything electronic. But it’s her patience, open mind and her giving heart that make Mom the go-too for most everything else. Like a good mother, she always puts them first – like a great mother.

She’s the prettiest girl in the Holler’… the mother of my children.

Michele’s willingness and uncanny ability to tackle day to day challenges comes from her fierce independence and a time in her life when she couldn’t rely on anyone but herself. Somewhere that 20-year old, single mother, balancing college courses, a volleyball team and the uncertainty of her future is still fighting to prove to herself that she can do it. She has done it. She’s persevered. She won the race. She got the guy. She got the white picket fence in the suburbs with 2.5 kids and a dog….if Pine City is the suburbs and if I am “the guy”. I am the guy – the guy that needs to realize that she’s not stubborn. She’s independent. That she doesn’t need a man – she chooses a man. I’m the lucky one.

She’s the prettiest girl in the Holler’….

And now 22 years later, it’s just me and my pretty girl. The oldest son has a pretty girl and home of his own in the actual suburbs. Our only daughter is the prettiest girl in the North Country and winning her way through life and college. And now the youngest son has started his journey into early adulthood with vocational training that began in July, a lease on his own apartment and a pretty girl that will keep him checking in back home regularly. But here at home, for now, it’ll just be me and my beautiful wife. Empty nesters they call it. How lucky am I to be the guy to hold the hand of the blonde in the sundress with those lovely, long legs? Just me and Michele…

The Prettiest Girl in the Holler’.