I have not written about her yet.
Ms Ace is my wife.
Wife number two, to be precise. I have a previous divorce, to a mousey Spanish girl, back when I was in my early twenties. I will write about that some other time.
Most of last year -like in many other opportunities in the last couple of decades- Ms Ace and I we were at loggerheads, locked into silly temper outbursts, anxiety attacks, shallow ever-looping argumentations and mean personal vendettas against each other.
Throughout our life together we have been inseparable. Partners in crime, adventurous couple, steady companions, confidantes, parents, lovers, enemies.
Not everything is rosy. We tend to drift into rough patches -sometimes, very frequently. We have climbed amazing heights and we have also dived unfathomable depths.
Our marriage has been blessed and cursed at the same time.
Last year was not very good – in fact, last year was one of the worst in our long and colourful life together. There was talk of separation..
But as we sometimes do since we started dating, we patched things up. All we had to do was to put our minds into getting the patch out, and fixing our lives.
– – –
Ms Ace had an eventful birth: her mum had her at 18 years of age and she came into this world at 24-weeks of gestation. She was put in an incubator and somehow -with the crude medical science available in a public hospital in the early 1970’s- she survived.
Her childhood was both painful and sweet – her grandparents doted on the miracle baby and she was protected by her family; but she had to endure multiple grueling and -probably pointless- plastic surgeries to correct features of her face that were not quite ready by the time she landed on planet Earth.
At birth her jaw and teeth were misaligned; and the whole left half of her head was different from her right half.
She was bullied in school, but her older sisters would then kick the shit out of anyone who crossed Ms Ace. She grew up in a family who loved her and appreciated her smarts, loving nature and energy.
She was given the nurturing confidence that I do not have.
She does not really mind when people stare at her nowadays -but once every other moon a compassionate fool will say:
“Poor thing… whatever happened to you?”
And Ms Ace in a very innocent tone would reply…
“I was bitten by a shark.”
I have to refrain from laughing in the face of the compassionate fool. Fortunately as we grow older this situation is less frequent than in the past, when we were just married.
Ms Ace is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
There is no other woman like her. There will be no other woman like her. Ever.
– – –
As I look back, I can say without hesitation that Ms. Ace is the most important influence in my life.
It is due to her commitments and talents that we have travelled the world. It is due to her sensibilities that I have been tamed and somewhat turned into a civilised man; and it is due to her passion and energy that I have faith in the future, even when it does not look great.
Watching her naked sun-kissed body in the early morning light brings me back to my youthful self, excites my senses and nurtures my soul. It is one of the sweetest and sexiest moments.
I do love her deeply. My admiration for her is almost infinite.
Even after all these years and many adventures together, Ms Ace is still the most beautiful girl in the room.