My wife turns 36 today.

Today is my wife Shirley's 36th birthday. The former Shirley Janel Goetsch was born on October 24th, 1968 to William and Darlene Goetsch of rural Cresco, Iowa. The valedictorian of her high school class, she graduated in 1987 from Crestwood High School in Cresco, Iowa and studied pre-pharmacy at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa from 1987 - 1989. She transferred to Creighton University and earned a Doctorate of Pharmacy - Magna Cum Laude - in 1993.

We met at Morningside in 1987, began dating in early 1988, and got married in May of 1989. We've been married for 15.5 years and have two big boys, Alex (4) and Jared (2).

One of our former professors at Morningside, Jan Hodge, used to refer to her as my "better three-quarters." The older I get, the more I realize he was right. I do not deserve her and she does not deserve me. Both of those are meant as compliments to her.

Happy birthday, Shirley.