‘Extraordinary Woman’: Herman Chen is an ordinary man who found his extraordinary woman, Colleen Marie Chen

Colleen Marie Chen sacrificed everything for her family. She has put her career on hold to be a stay-at-home mom, and her husband, Herman, could not be prouder and more appreciative of her.

“What makes her amazing is she’s an amazing mom,” Herman said. “She will play with and entertain the kids all day while I’m at work. They are not watching TV all the time, but are playing, doing arts and crafts, eating lunch and taking walks in the park. She is selfless and she went from buying designer handbags to spending all our money on our kids. She sacrificed her career to be a full time stay at home mom, and although she thanks me every day for this blessing, I think the kids ought to be thanking her.”

Colleen is a smart, highly educated and intelligent woman, but her greatest achievement is being a mom. She loves getting to spend her days at home with her kids, instilling the knowledge she has into them.

“She received a degree in accounting with aspirations of being a CPA, but she sacrificed it all to be a mom who could be home every day to raise her children,” Herman said. “The kids are the ones who lucked out. They aren’t sitting in front of the TV, but instead are out laughing, learning and playing.”

When they first met, Herman was a single dad working toward his degree, and Colleen was a single woman aspiring to be an accountant in order to fulfill the dream her Nan Nan set before her. Herman was drawn to her immediately, and rightfully so.

“The first time I saw my wife, it was class in a lecture hall at PSU Abington,” Herman said. “ I’ll never forget the moment because she walked into the lecture hall as I was turning around, and it just hit me. I saw she was struggling to lift the desktop of the seat, and I walked over and helped her, and she smiled. Her smile overwhelmed me and that was it.”

Anywhere Colleen goes, she helps change the mood. People are drawn to the happiness she brings, and that is a special quality she brings with her everywhere.

“The first thing I noticed was her smile,” Herman said. “It can light up a room. She also has long, dark brown hair. She was the total opposite of me. She was always dressed nicely, makeup done, hair perfect with her designer handbags. I was a man in flip flops, mesh shorts and a t-shirt or pullover. But she was easy to make laugh. She’s kind and she genuinely cares. She’s smart and she’s supportive.”

Herman will never forget the first time she laughed at one of his jokes, and he realized she was a keeper. Colleen is a super caring individual, and she has made so many sacrifices for her family that Herman will be forever appreciative of.

The years they have been together have been the best years of Herman’s life, and he cannot wait to spend many more years with the love of his life. He cannot imagine a better mother to their children, and he is appreciative of the family woman Colleen is.

“If I was a better man, I’d say thank you to her more often for loving and taking care of me,” Herman said. “For caring about and taking care of my son, Brandon, and for loving and taking care of our children. I know it’s not easy raising two babies having no one to help you all day. I know this yet I don’t say thank you enough for everything you do. Thank you, Colleen, and Happy Anniversary. I love you.”