My wife isn't much of a talker. She's gotten better about it, but to her I'm a "social butterfly." She's a workaholic and a gamer. It can be lonely sometimes even when she's right there, and she's often not. Truly, she is not like the other girls. Which is wonderful in many ways and truly I am blessed, but it leaves an unrequited need of mine.

The entire surviving text message history with the wife fits comfortably in my phone's memory -- and contains so very many unanswered messages. The texts with Mel from just a few years are so massive it literally breaks the program.

If I were a sword, the wife would be a spear, a more advantageous weapon in many ways, and Mel would have been the shield, a complimentary piece of gear with a totally different function.

If one were fighting off Persians at Thermopylae, you'd ideally want your sword, shield, and spear. If I could only have two I'd want my spear and sword, but I'd miss that shield like crazy.