My Shauna-Our Family

'We were but stones, your light made us stars.'

Lest it be unsaid, and I’m sure that Shauna would prefer it was left unsaid, Happy Birthday to our most beloved Mother Star. Amidst all the action and deserved attention that Miss wonderful wonderful Norah received around her big numero uno, Shauna’s birth date came and went modestly without the same fervor. I’m here to correct that.

Shauna is my beautiful wife, the mother to our kids and the most wonderful person I know. There is no one I know who is stronger, more kind hearted and caring and also the best Super Mario Brothers player I know who...wait, what’s that my son? Oh yeah, scratch that last one Harper, you’re right, you’re the best....around...no-ones gonna ever keep you down!

Ahem. 

Shauna and I met through work. It’s the last place either of us were looking to find someone to fall in love with. Unless you count that one time I mistook a private meeting with the HR representative to be about my behavior and not my charming ways and dashing good looks. It only took one conference call with Shauna after my extended absence and I was hooked. Man, I was kind of annoyed at first. Who is this person that took over my job while I was out, and how does she know so much more than I did when she had only been doing for 6 months what I had been doing for over a year?!? And why did I want to hear her voice again, even if it was to talk about work related blah blah blah. It didn’t take long from there for us to veer the conversation from work related topics to music, far side comics, and other jibba jabba. These conversations went on and on, even after work should have been long over with and we both would have been racing for the door normally. And I hate talking on the phone.

And then I started looking for excuses to talk to her after work, and we started text messaging. No, not the type of text messages that KSL admonishes senior citizens for sending to each other. We just felt that that talking on the phone for 6 hours at work wasn’t enough. Our cell phone bills were increasing.

*NOTE: People reading this that work where I work, these numbers I throw out that sounds like we weren’t working and were just talking are exaggerated numbers and man I am a hard worker...yeah, that’s the ticket.

'There’s a light, when my baby's in my arms.'

One thing led to another, and here we are approaching our 5 year anniversary. Time starts to fly when everything’s in it’s right place. For someone who never thought he’d get married, have kids, live the dream, etc., this is all quite amazing and mind blowing. 

“Letting the days go by, letting the days go by, letting the days go by, once in a lifetime”

Some highlights (historians from the future aka internet nerds, will mock me for missing the million wonderful things I fail to mention):

-Hearing her voice for the first time

-Falling in love

-Seeing her for the first time

-Falling in love

-Meeting each other in person the first time in Vegas

-Falling in love

-Christmas in Arizona

-Falling in love

-Seeing the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas 

-Falling in love

-Getting married on the beach in Northern California with our closest family.

-Falling in lo-...ok, you get the idea

-Seeing the positive sign on the pregnancy thing showing we were pregnant with Harper.

-Getting to a place where she could quit and be a full time mommy

-Seeing the positive sign that we were pregnant with Norah

-Norah’s beautiful crazy birth

-Every day afterwards where together as a family we’ve survived the hardest, most wonderful moments of our life together.

'All you need is love.'

Shauna is everything wonderful I refuse to see in myself that she helps me resistingly see, and that which we both see in our kids. She is Harpers mischief. Norah’s smiles. Norah’s fits :). Harpers sweet hugs and cuddles reserved for ‘only momma.’ Norah’s assuming the napping position that is reserved just for momma. The love reserved for Norah from so many strangers that have become close friends and protectors, not just of her, but of momma as well. She is the light that has guided us both through dark times where worried tears wouldn’t dry, not for lack of tissues. The bridge for a family when our sweet daughter couldn’t come home after being born and momma couldn’t bear to leave her side. The strength that seemed completely sapped, only to be restored through sheer willpower.

There is no one like my Shauna. I’ve wasted enough words in a vain attempt to describe how amazing she is and how much she means to me and our family, but it’s a failed attempt. As words can’t do it justice. A picture worth it’s million words would fail in it’s earnest effort. All I can say is that I love her, and that she is everything to me.

Happy Birthday Nauna.

Your Norah. Your Harper. Your Geoffrey.


-J