I'M VONNIE DAVIS' HUSBAND--AND DAMN PROUD OF IT

Folks, who know me, know how much I love my wife. I often say I didn't start to live until she came into my life. When I tell her that, she gives me that sweet smile I love and asks me if I'm Irish 'cause I sound like I've kissed the Blarney Stone. Then she warms my soul with a hug and a kiss on the neck.

Yup, having that connectedness with someone who is like-minded and who loves you deeply in return is that refreshing pool from which our happiness sprouts. There's nothing like loving and being loved in return.

My wife spoils me in little ways: cooks me the foods I like; lays out a fresh towel and underwear before I shower; shops for me so I don't have to enter a mall (a tip for all you ladies, unless we're going to look at electronics or tools, men do NOT like going to the mall); keeps all my many medicines straight, stocked and in my daily pill holders; has a pot of coffee brewed, strong just the way I like it, as soon as I step out of the bedroom in the mornings; and she never reaches for the TV remote. Hey, some things are sacred to a guy...and remotes are our domain.

Vonnie is the kind of person others bring their problems to; they know she'll listen and offer support. Vonnie is a warm-hearted woman in a cold-hearted world. And she's mine.

She's also a great writer. Her first book came out 2 weeks before its official date of 7/15. If you could have seen her expression when she opened the box full of copies of Storm's Interlude. I'm proud of her for reaching for her dream. She worked. She persevered. She succeeded. I have as much pride in her book as I do my The Phantom Lady of Paris. For when you love someone, that person's successes are yours--we are two halves of a whole, after all.

Yup, I'm married to a writer--and damned proud of it.