Humble, yet Proud

Here are examples of the mixture of humble, yet proud, that is in Gregg. (He might make me delete this if he sees it, so read it now if you want to at all.)

If I give him a compliment, even when we are alone, it makes him uncomfortable. I do it anyway, because I like to share the joy and express my gratitude. He does not need or expect approval from others. He doesn't give compliments, either, except on rare occasions. You are expected to assume that everything is fine; if it weren't, he might decide to tell you, but he might just endure it, to keep the peace. We joke about "I told you I loved you in the wedding ceremony; just assume it's still true."

We were talking about visiting National Parks last night, and the topic of Yellowstone came up. I asked if he had been there, and he said that he had, when he was a teenager, with his Auntie Bernice, Uncle Karl and cousins, Kim and Scott. I asked, "Why did they take you with them?" and he said with a sly smile, "Because I'm their favorite nephew." I thought for a minute about this and then the light bulb went on in my head: "No, I think they took you to keep Kim and Scott from killing each other. They probably paid your parents to let you go with them and be the peacemaker." He then said, "You're probably right," and we laughed at the thought.

Here is one of my favorites: When traveling in Europe after college, two of Gregg's companions decided to take advantage of the lax laws in Holland and "enjoy the company" of a prostitute. Gregg, being very thrifty, decided to hold their wallets for them and wait outside. I asked him if he was even a little bit tempted to try this activity, and he said, "No way! I wasn't going to PAY for that. I saved my money for food." After I finished laughing, I asked, "So you were pretty sure you could get it for free?" And he said, "Yep."

And he seems to have been correct about this, from what I gather about his past.

That's my man.