🎁 The Gift of Gab 🎁

If you follow me on FB, you’ve already seen this.  🥰

My heart is absolutely overflowing with love and joy and gratitude, today.
I woke early, again. I love being up with the sunrise. I had some errands to run, this morning, so I got up, got dressed and headed out.
Everything went perfectly smoothly, so my last two errands were to pick up my grocery order, and then go grab a coffee for Drew and myself.

The young woman who brought out my grocery order was named “Trey,” which is the name of my awesome neighbors’ awesome son, who mows our lawn without being asked, and only sometimes lets me pay him for it.

So in the course of the chatter that usually occurs as they load the groceries into my car, the subject of her fiance came up. There was no one waiting, and she began to tell me about how she is the only one working between the two of them. I asked her if he was going to school, and she said that he was so that he could become an x-ray technician. I said, “well, that’s a job that will never be obsolete.”

She mentioned that she gets stressed because all the pressure is on her to make the money and pay the bills, and he took a week off from school to go back to Virginia because his uncle is in the hospital.

I listened.

She talked about how they’ve been together off and on for a long time. This is their second engagement. She took a deep breath and said, “I just get stressed, so sometimes I’m a bitch to him when I come home.”

I looked to see if anyone else was waiting for their grocery order. Then I said, “can I share something with you?”
She said, “sure.”
So I told her about working for a living since I was old enough to get a job. I told her that I’ve been in relationships in which I worked and my partner did not contribute, not even to work around the house or anything to make me feel like it was a partnership. I even worked full time when I was going to college full time.
And then I got sick. And Drew had to take care of me. It has been so hard for me to let him do it all because I didn’t have the stamina to even finish cleaning the kitchen after cooking a meal, much less hold down a job to contribute to the household.
But Drew never made me feel guilty. He wouldn’t let me apologize. And when he had his surgery, the roles flipped a little. Now I’m strong enough to take care of the dishes, the laundry, the groceries, etc., and I love having the opportunity to take care of him feels like the most loving way to thank him.

So, at 48 years old, we just had the most amazing, romantic evening I’ve ever had (and I’ve had some pretty great adventures😉😉). (And, yes, I did say that to her. 🤣) But no matter how great an evening might be, it’s nothing compared to knowing that the person you are spending it with would sacrifice for you the way that you have and/or would sacrifice for them.
So be kind. Don’t make him feel guilty. It will all come back around in a loving partnership.

And then I laughed and said, “So there’s your lecture for today.”

She laughed and then looked at me seriously, and said, “Thank you. I think I needed to hear that lecture, today.” ❤️

Sometimes I talk too much and embarrass myself. As I get older, I’m realizing that it’s a gift, and I’m grateful for it.