Today is my wife’s birthday! I love this day every year because I get to celebrate her. I am truly grateful she was born. People call their spouses their “other half” or their “better half.” Sometimes it’s in jest or to be cute. For me there is a lot of truth in those words. I call Teri that because it is how I see us.

I know Teri is half of who I am. She is the one person on this earth who makes me feel whole and who completes me. I know, it’s an overused phrase, but it’s the only way I know how to describe this connection we have. I talk a lot about having felt as a teen that there was a hole in my heart and Teri is the person who perfectly filled that hole.

I always tell her my life wouldn’t have been the same if she hadn’t been born. She responds and says I wouldn’t know any different if she hadn’t been born. But I have to disagree with her there. I think in some crazy weird way I would know. I think a part of me would always be missing if our lives had never collided.

After all of these years together, we are so attuned to each other that it still amazes me. Often I open my mouth to say something and Teri says she was just thinking the same thing. Or we’ll start talking about the same subject at the same time. So often she’ll tell me what food she’s craving for dinner and it’s the exact same thing I was hungry for. I can’t count the number of times we’ve gotten ready to go somewhere and then realize after we’re dressed we’ve chosen the same colors without the other even having known it.

Our “oneness” runs even deeper. She is in tune with how I’m feeling even when I can’t quite express or realize it myself. If I’m wrestling with an emotion, thought or feeling, there are a lot of times she can sense it before I’ve verbalized it, know exactly the root of my distress and know just what to say to help sort things out.

As an artist, I couldn’t do this without her. Not just someone like her, but her. I like to say she’s what every artist needs, but the truth is she’s exactly what I need. Her gifts complement mine perfectly and together we make a solid team. Her unwavering belief in me and her persistence keep me pushing on.

I’ve written several songs about our love, but this one particular song I wrote just for her. It’s called “The Essence of You” and it talks about the person she is and the way I see her. I’ll share it here with you in celebration of her special day.