uxorious
I got a Word a Day calendar in 1995, my first year in a corporate office. On August 23rd, I turned to a word I had never heard.
Uxorious, adjective: excessively devoted to your wife
On February 19th, 1994, it turned out I had married a man who can only be described as uxorious.
As soon as I meet one of Mark’s co-workers or golfing buddies, I am always told, “Wow! Your husband really loves you. I have never heard him say a bad thing about you.”
His friends pick on him because he always answers the phone, “Hey gorgeous.” This has been embarrassing the handful of times that it wasn’t actually me on the phone, but instead one of his bosses, who has a similar phone number.
Saint Mark
In the 17 years we have been married, he has been a wonderful provider, an amazing father, an avid supporter of my writing career and a source of security. He is ethical to a fault and over the top romantic, with a bone dry sense of humor. He is also the only person in the world who could STAY married to me.
Of course, he has his flaws. He is human after all, even though most of our family calls him “Saint Mark.” But just as he doesn’t catalog my faults and flaws to his associates, I don’t share his. Pointing out each others shortcomings in a public forum doesn’t inspire one to change…or to feel loved. But being bolstered by both public and private adoration has certainly inspired me to try to be a wife worth of his affections.
I wonder what the word is for “excessively devoted to one’s husband”?