LABOR OF LOVE

A Valentine's Day card is nice, a bouquet of flowers is charming and a fancy dinner with all the trimmings will make a girl's head spin.

But a true labor of love -- well, that's a unique and lasting expression that says "I love you" better than any words.

After a lot of hard work and plenty of frustration, that is exactly what Earl Strattman gave his wife, Wilma, as an early Valentine's Day gift this week. Earl has spent the past 17 months adding an art studio to their home so Wilma can move her stained-glass business out of their unfinished basement, where she has worked for better than two decades.

"He told me he was going to build it and he did," said Wilma as she showed off her new workplace. "It made me a nervous wreck sometimes, but I had no doubt he could do it."

Earl said he thought about doing the project for many years but only began putting his ideas on paper two years prior to retiring from the rock quarry business in 1996. It was that September after he felt he had designed the perfect studio that he set to work actually building the addition.

Earl said he probably could have come up with a prettier or less time-consuming gift, but they wouldn't have been as special.

"I guess she might have liked a diamond ring more," he said. "She might have been happier, and it would have been a whole lot quicker, but I did this because I've always thought if I ever retired I'd build her someplace to work."

The studio is a 20-by-22-foot structure with 12-foot ceilings. Windows grace three of the four walls. Everything in the room was built by Earl. He is proud of it, although in his eyes it still isn't perfect.

"I nailed every nail and sawed every board. It's the first time I built anything of wood and the last time I'm going to build anything from wood," he laughed as he brushed an imaginary speck of dust from a counter. "There aren't enough walls in here, though, and I think someday I'm going to make her some drawers to go in here.

"I think one day she'll want some extra shelves, too."

Earl might think the room still needs work, but in Wilma's eyes it is perfect, and so is he. The couple will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary next month, she said, and in all those years Earl has always gone out of his way to help his wife.

"He's always doing special things for me," she said. "He even designed our house. Anytime I need something done, he's always real helpful."

Wilma said she wouldn't even have begun working with stained glass if it hadn't been for Earl. He thought stained-glass windows would be nice in one of the doors of their home and encouraged her to give it a try. She had a knack for it, and Earl encouraged her to take it up.

Now she has an active business that includes local, out-of-state and even foreign customers.

Earl said he "stays away from the stained glass" as much as possible, but he still helps Wilma with her framework and offers his opinion when asked. He also made sure to build the studio over what will become a closed garage workshop for him to "do some tinkering" on his antique tractor.

But even when he is in his area and she in hers, they'll be able to communicate, he said.

"My workshop will be right underneath her, so when she wants something she can just do this a few times," he said, stomping his foot on the floor. "I'll know to come on up."