I am the luckiest. Thank you Madison, WI.

It's 4:15 a.m. I'm downstairs packing my laptop before I head to the airport.

"Sweetie, come upstairs and say good-bye before you go," Mama whispers from above.

I tread lightly back up the stairs, careful to not wake Beatrice.

"I love you," I say, leaning over the bed where Mama renegotiates her snuggle spot. I kiss her three times and stroke her cheek.

"Love you too," she says. "Miss you."

"I'll miss you too." And Beatrice and Bryce.

I'm on my way to Madison, Wisconsin for an HR/recruiting industry event called TRU USA.

How appropriate since my wife was born in Wisconsin and spent the first 11 days of her life in a Madison hospital getting blood transfusion after blood transfusion because of Rh incompatibility.

She could've died. Obviously she didn't -- too much spunk and angelshine thrive in her cells.

She's an amazing woman. She's tough yet compassionate and one heck of a looker (which is gorgeous in my Grandpa speak, God rest that sweet man's soul). She's the Mama of my sugar-and-spice-and-everything-nice kit.

A champion of personal responsibility and directness, she helped me over the "pick yourself up and shake it off" hump. We've been through boom and bust and back again; we work the rockin' rhythm method.

I love her and miss her madly. I may not always say or do the right thing, and God knows I own plenty of dummy shares still -- mankind's toxic decision-making assets -- but each year I shed a few more on the slippery slope trading room floor, and get a little smarter, a little more aware.

I miss my sun, my soulmate...

You are my sun,
and I am your Moon.
I rise in the night
to settle the darkness
that reflects my past,
but the second you rise
and call out my name
making my day aglow
with a moment of grace,
it’s then I relive our love:
our present eclipse embrace.

I am the luckiest. Thank you Madison, WI.

What if I'd been born fifty years before you
In a house on a street where you lived?
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike
Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes

I see one pair that I recognize

And I know

That I am

I am
I am

The luckiest.

~Ben Folds