Lines

He was browning meat for taco salads. I could tell he was thinking as he stood there, poking at the pinkish beef. "Y'know?" he said thoughtfully, "Valentine's Day is just like a Mother's Day for girls who aren't moms yet."

This morning, in the car, I got on his case because he hadn't brushed (or washed) his hair this morning. It was a little greasy and a lot of messy. (But maybe he would've had time to shower if he hadn't woken up early to make me pancakes.) We were driving to an art store to get a poster framed--Kandinsky's "Several Circles," which was his Valentine's Day gift to me. I saw his eyes bulge as he watched the woman helping us tally the prices of the frame, glass, and matte board. Despite his bulging eyes, he let me get the special type of glass with UV protection (so the colors of the poster won't fade over time). As we walked out of Provo Art and Frame he said, "Dang! I thought an art poster would be a budget-friendly gift but man! Framing! What a racket! See if I ever get one of those again!" 

Later, he apologized for not buying me a flower. "I would've," he said. "But I didn't have the car today. I'll get you one tomorrow." How sweet, I thought to myself. "Yes, only one," he continued. "Not a dozen. Those are like fifty bucks on Valentine's Day."

As we were driving home to make dinner, he could hardly contain his excitement as he told me "Hey! Guess what. I got hit on today. Some girl in my class was throwing candy hearts at me, and said she wanted to be my valentine. But I held up my left hand and told her I already had one. So you should be feeling pretty good about yourself, having such a wanted man and all."

***

The lines Brock delivered today weren't exactly worthy of a Cary Grant movie. Yet as much as I roll my eyes at his impishness, I couldn't love him more for it. I think it would be terribly boring to have a husband who does and says all the right things, all the time. Life isn't meant to be scripted out--it's the take-twos (and threes, and fours...) that make it worth living.

So even though it wasn't the most romantic Valentine's Day on record, and even though Brock's lines were a little more Larry the Cable Guy than Cary Grant, somehow; I sit here writing this while loving him more than ever.