Never Lovelier (at 65)
Author: Andrew Comiskey
March 13, 2021
Today marks my bride’s 65th birthday. Never lovelier, she reminds me that virtue deepens and resounds with
age. Time amplifies faults as well. Still, Annette makes accentuating the
positive easy. So here goes…
Annette’s natural gift of
mothering our children rises to full stature in her care of our children’s
children. As our home has become a daycare center for grandkids, I witness
constantly her effortless bearing with infants and toddlers; she provides
homecooked food, curriculum, and fun breaks, all guided by a finely tuned
intuition. What does that one need? Should the outburst or whine be challenged?
Understood as a veiled need? Annette can tell. Natural mom.
She is decidedly
pre-modern: I’ve never experienced Annette in conflict between her personal
aspirations and caring for family members. She finds her most authentic self in
the latter.
She possesses more
intellectual curiosity than me and hones her mind each morning with the NYT
crossword puzzle. Her analysis of current events, especially those spotlighting
anti-life culture, is astute; we process them daily. She bears these burdens in
her heart, so it helps her to get them on the table, to agree once more that
Jesus is on the throne of the universe, if not in DC or one's favorite denomination. Instead of pushing her
back, the drive toward identity fracturing provokes her to push harder for
radical wholeness.
Annette bears a heart for
the whole Church. We suffer a painful divide between my Catholicism and her Evangelicalism. Yet the tension we face, a microcosm of the deeply divided
Church out there, is honest and bridged only by Jesus who helps us keep the
wound clean and our love strong. Though my move to the Roman Catholic Church hurt her, she does
not blame the Catholic Church for my choice. In truth, she advocates without
shadow for Rome. She just wishes I wasn’t Catholic! Our divide levels us, keeps
us close to Jesus, and disinclined to church bash.
Finally, Annette is shaped
by a primary relationship, with me. And I her. Given the international nature
of our mission from the start, which has separated us roughly 25% of the time
for over 35 years, she has learned an unusual mix of personal autonomy and
reliance upon me. It has not been easy for her. Grace has prevailed.
Faithfulness has prevailed. We look back on over 40 years of Kingdom advance
together and we see each other’s kind face in every post card. I witness Jesus
in every photo, every season. For each
season was dedicated to Him and experienced with each other. Amazing. One
person shaped my life more than any other. Hers. At 65, never lovelier.
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