Monday, May 28 – Memorial Day and I love this man

Today is the day we remember the sacrifices of The War of 1812; The Mexican-American War; The Cival War; The Great War, The War to End All Wars or more commonly known now as World War I; World War II; the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam conflict, the Persian Gulf Conflict; the Iraq Conflict; the Afghanistan Conflict, (these are conflicts as we never declared war in these locations), I really don’t want to continue. Memorial Day was specifically created to honor those who have died in Service to the United States of America. So many lives lost, disrupted, destroyed, irreparably changed, souls fighting to regain a semblance of a new normal. My heart breaks for those left behind mourning their loss, for those who returned broken and not understood. My heart aches for the losses the United States and the world has suffered over land, ideology, theology, and ego. But we go on, we remember and honor our lost men and women, then tomorrow we go back to our daily lives. May the weight of today lay on the shoulders of our countries leadership and help guide them in their future decisions.

Now that I have that heavy weight in my heart lightened a bit by sharing, I can share what really lightens my heart. I’ve had a weekend of reminders of why I love this man and why I married him. It has felt so right to have a weekend of reminders. I didn’t feel like I needed them, and yet, my heart is lighter because of the reminders. It started Saturday night when I thought we would be watching the DVD we’ve had for the past month from Netflix – La La Land. Turns out Hubby had a surprise for me, he discovered the 2004 movie of “The Phantom of the Opera” was available to stream. Knowing I have never seen Phantom, and it has been on my wish list of plays to see, my heart swelled when I was surprised when I found out what we would be watching. It was a wonderful production and we were both amazed at the cast and their talent. My heart swelled at this little reminder that me and my little desires are always at the forefront of his mind.

Sunday, because we had no kids coming over, Hubby said he was taking me to Canter’s Deli for an early dinner. Another one of my little wishes, a Canter’s Reuben, their dill pickles, and maybe a cheese blintz. As we were driving there I was thinking maybe we should stop at the bakery on the way out and bring home some dessert to eat while we watched that movie we still had – La La Land. Just as I was about to say this to Hubby, he said it to me. Great minds! I had to chuckle as yet again, here was my reminder that I have a wonderful mate.

We had a wonderful dinner and Hubby took a different way home, a route he’d never driven before. I was surprised he did this voluntarily and he actually liked the drive. Much better than the drive out to Canter’s where someone tried to wipe us into the K-rail barrier as he raced to get into the exit only lane at the very last second in near bumper to bumper traffic. Nothing like a little near death excitement to enliven your drive. When we got home we finally set up to watch that DVD that had been hanging around for the past month. Hubby got the DVD player all set up and inserted the DVD, only for the DVD player to give us the message it could not play the DVD. He washed the disc and we tried again, nope, La La Land is not a movie we would be seeing.

We went back to Streaming Netflix and decided on “The Week Of”, an Adam Sandler movie filmed exclusively for Netflix. It was funny and heartwarming, and at the end it made both of us teary. Darn you Adam Sandler! We still had time to kill before we would be ready to head to bed so we decided to watch the Steve Martin and Martin Short Netflix comedy special.

Now at this point you need to know about our first date. It was a week and a day after we first met. We went out on a Wednesday night, dinner after work. I was temping at a company in downtown Long Beach, so we met downtown and picked a restaurant on the main street in downtown. I wore a long lace skirt, white lace up boots, a red shirt and a blue boyfriend blazer. We sat outside, and we talked as we ate. At one point he brought up music, and asked me who my favorite artist was or band. I love an eclectic range of music, and when I am put on the spot to name my favorite, just like naming my favorite color, what day of the week is it? So there I was on a first date with a guy I found charming and adorable with great legs, and he was asking me about music and who I like. I tried to answer his question with explaining my wide taste. I love drum and bagpipe music, classical, rock, country, some rap, you name it. He then asked me to name my top picks out of all my likes. The Doors, Queen – Freddie Mercury, and Bagpipes – it was Wednesday. He took all this in and looked at me and said, “So if I could find a CD of The Doors music played on bagpipes I’d be in?” Made me laugh and like him even more.

So there we were watching the comedy show and Martin Short did a bagpipe skit. It was funny, but the best part was when my husband looked over at me and said the only thing that would be better with this skit is if he played a Doors song. 23+ years later and he still remembers. I love this man. This man who makes me laugh. This man who holds me together while I try to fall apart. This man who remembers my little things, and surprises me with my own little things. This man who worries about our future. This man who worries about my future without him. This man who worries about my kids. This man who loves my kids so much they are his kids. This man who swallows his own fears to help me face mine. This man who plays my nurse every day. This man who holds my hand through thick and thin. This man who loves me for me, and tells me so in so many little and big ways. I thank God everyday for this man. I just hope that I am able to give him as much as he gives me.

Life is knowing I am loved by a wonderful man