You had me at "doctor." Well, "neurosurgeon," really.

I remember standing in a doorway at church one Sunday after Jonny and I had recently met. He was telling me that he had plans to be a neurosurgeon. I think it was at that moment that I fell in love....

OK, I'm JOKING, but I must admit, he caught my attention.

Since then, a lot has happened. I actually fell in love with Jonny for reasons other than his ambitions. We were married. We did research together measuring each others' "brain elasticity" using a tilt table at the early hours of the morning our first year of marriage. Jonny applied to medical schools. We weighed out the pros and cons of going to different schools and cities where he was accepted. We moved to Toledo and Jonny started medical school. He spent thousands upon thousands of hours studying for exams, day and night, year after year. Jonny became lost and frustrated in his pursuit of a career in medicine. We had a baby boy named Max. We both had medical issues. Jonny spent long days without food, drink, or bathroom breaks in operating rooms during the years of his rotations. I spent days and weeks alone, managing every other aspect of our lives. We spent four years in a depressed, cold city in Ohio. We racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt...and the list goes on, and on, and on, and on...

BUT, finally, yesterday, Jonny became a REAL DOCTOR!

Was is worth it? I think one day we will think so. Jonny is not so sure.

But I want to publicly say...JONNY, I AM SO PROUD OF YOUR GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS OVER THE LAST FOUR YEARS. Not only did you get your MD, but you have managed to be a caring and thoughtful husband in the midst of heavy stress and busy schedules. You have made being a father a priority in your life. You are as hard a worker as I've ever met, and as thoughtful a man as I will ever know. I love you.

Congratulations Dr. Brennan.