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Disclaimer: I’m 8,000 months pregnant, which means I’m extra hormonal and schmoopy. But last night, I was thinking about our marriage…
Ever since I got pregnant with Toby, my left foot has been randomly cold. It’s probably bad circulation or something? At night, it feels especially freezing. Still, I always forget to put on a sock before climbing into bed. So, pretty much every night, after we read and chat in bed, and I’m half-asleep, I’ll murmur to Alex, “Would you mind grabbing me a sock?” And every night, he says of course and finds a sock in his drawer (usually one of those gray business socks, if you must know). Then, while I lie there, basically passed out, and hugely pregnant, he’ll put it on my foot.
Last weekend, we were visiting our friends’ cabin in Connecticut, drinking lemonade in their gazebo in the woods, when the skies suddenly opened up, and rain poured down around us. Although he’s never had an asthma attack before, Alex started wheezing. As we chatted in the gazebo, the toddlers playing under our feet, it got harder and harder for him to breathe, and our friend ended up rushing him to the hospital. (As they raced down the country roads, they also HIT A VULTURE. What an omen!) Finally at the hospital, the doctor stabilized Alex with oxygen and steroids and explained that it was allergy-induced asthma due to record-settingly high pollen counts. Apparently, the situation had been very serious, they had arrived at the hospital in the nick of time, and Alex had been moments away from serious trouble.
Afterward, with Alex back in my clutches, I realized that if anything had happened, the things I would miss most would not be splurgy dinners or weekend getaways, but the little things. Who would care enough to put on my sock? And so tenderly? And not find it annoying that I didn’t do it myself? There’s something so heartbreakingly sweet about that act. Those little things are what a marriage is all about, it brings tears to my eyes.
(I told you I was schmoopy.)
P.S. A surprising marriage tip.
(Photo from our friends’ wedding last summer)
