Clump. I heard it. I didn’t see it slip from her hands, but I heard it. I knew immediately what had happened. In my distraction, Charlotte had taken Chuck’s college ring and tossed it into the toilet. I was beyond reach and could not stop Charlotte in time. I closed my eyes, knowing the ring was gone. What was I going to tell Chuck? His class ring had slipped down the toilet pipe and was gone. Defeat written across my face, I continued with other tasks.
When a person marries, they marry their complete opposite. No matter how similar you are in your interests, likes, and dislikes, God created you opposite, and for a good reason. You are to complete one another; complement one another. It becomes the greatest masterpiece God ever designed.
Seeing the local ice cream truck, we pulled in, and I unloaded the girls. Delightful squeals ran across the church parking lot to see fellow friends and purchase their favorite ice cream bar. While collecting the girls’ frozen treats, the owner asked them, “How’s your daddy doing? He seems like a great dad.” They smiled, which made me smile. It was easy to agree with them. He looked at me and continued, “I get the feeling from being around you that you both are happy. You work together and get the dream done.” Gratitude filled my heart as I warmly told him, “I wish I could tell you two perfect people found each other, but the truth is, we didn’t find a great marriage; we are building it; one day at a time.”
Driving home and seeing ice-cream-covered faces and sticky fingers in the backseat, my mind drifted back over all the moments teamwork had made the dream work. Not realizing anyone took notice.
It isn’t a badge of honor one adorns in their marriage or something that has to be broadcasted. A well-established family and marriage will shine brightly through any difficulties that may arise.
Purchase both Home Sweet Home Books I and II personally from me or locally at the Book Inn or on Amazon! – Makes a great gift!
A full day at the office notwithstanding, when Chuck walks in the back door, he never finds a place to sit and unwind. He rolls up his sleeves and asks, “Where do you need me?” Scouring pans, scrubbing hair, and reviewing spelling words become part of his heroic behavior. Grabbing items I forgot from the store or removing the newest invader from the pool are many of his finest achievements.
He becomes my knight in shining armor when I can’t reach the peppercorns on the top shelf of the cabinet or when he takes the jar from my hands because he sees I am getting nowhere; the crunch position, hot water, and serving utensils all fail to do what he does in seconds. With one hand, he twists the jar top free and returns it to me as if it were nothing.
Ten years of marriage filled with ordinary days and mundane monotony that has a way of creeping into our lives, find vigor and splendor as I watch my hero go down in history as the man who opened the jar.
His hands are firm when they have to be, yet loving as he watches the girls drift off to sleep.
Not long had passed, and my mind was still racing with how to explain Chuck’s class ring when Charlotte’s little wet hand placed the ring in mine; her tiny arm is dripping wet. She must have reached way down inside the drain and pulled it out.
It is these beautiful interruptions that make the days so eventful. It turns daily chores into a treasure hunt of stories for the end-of-the-day retelling.
Pulling into the drive late one afternoon, I saw Chuck finishing some yard work near the creek’s edge. I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw the girls. They had spotted their daddy. Cheers went up as if they don’t see him every day, “Daddy!” Before they jumped out of the car to run to meet him, I told them, “Listen to me, girls, someday, when you look for your prince, look for a man that can square his shoulders next to your daddy. If he can’t, you walk away because your daddy is a hero of a man.”
This Father’s Day, tell your hero Thank You for all the jars opened and cabinets reached beyond your tippy toes.
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