There is a Giant Inside

Chuck and I had recently been married and now we were arranging our new household budget. We had some extra funds and were discussing the best way to use the money. I had some great ideas, but none were practical. Chuck helped kick in the adult part of me, as he is always very practical, and we settled on the purchase of a new mattress set for our bedroom.

At the time, we did not have a truck so, Chuck called one of his buddies to help him go and pick up the mattress set. As they were about to leave, I opened the door and told Chuck to make sure they didn’t forget the tie-downs or bungee straps so the mattresses would stay secure on the ride home. Once they arrived to pick up the mattresses and got them loaded, Marcus told Chuck to grab the straps so they could tie it down. But Chuck said it wasn’t necessary. He figured it would be fine just lying there. For a little added security, he would reach his hand out through the rear window and hold it. So, with that all decided, they loaded up and headed back toward our  home.

On the way back, one of the roads opened up, and the speed limit increased, not by much, but enough to make a difference in the wind levels. Without thinking, Chuck lifted his hand to scratch his face. He says at this point, everything happened faster than the blink of an eye and yet it felt like slow motion. The wind got underneath the mattress and lifted it straight up in the air! He tried to get his hands back on it but it was no use. It sailed into the oncoming traffic lane. No cars were coming so they quickly pulled off the road and ran to get it. As they were running, they turned to see a dually pickup truck headed straight for the mattress! To hear them tell it, their eyes got huge and their spirits were shrinking. They knew the truck was not going to dodge it. Of course, the truck ran slap over our brand-new mattress! As the truck passed and the dust cleared, Chuck and Marcus assessed the damage. Now with a very beaten and battered mattress reloaded in the bed of the truck, they got in, slammed the doors and Marcus looked at Chuck and said, “I think we should have used the tie downs.” “I’m not getting out of this truck when we get back to your house.”

Meanwhile, I was at home getting the room situated for where I wanted the new mattress set to go. Then the phone rings. It was Chuck. I will never forget his words as long as I live. He said, “Babe, don’t be mad. I will fix it.” When they arrived and hauled in the battered mattress, Marcus lingered back, and Chuck laid it out of the floor for me to examine. My mouth fell open. There on my living room floor lay our brand-new mattress with tire tracks across it! It looked like an over-sized pillow that had gone through the washing machine and then the dryer. It had more lumps in it than poorly cooked banana pudding! My eyes made their way to the bottom of the mattress, I could see the springs popping out. Chuck looked up at me and said, “I think I can fix it.” I was absolutely speechless.

I wanted to ream him out and tell him, “I told you so,” but as my mind raced through old files of memories, looking for one that gave me the right to blast him…I came up empty. In all my growing up years, I could not pull out one memory where my mother ever talked down to my father. She always spoke to the giant. Even when he made a mistake or didn’t listen to her way of thinking. There was never an “I told you so” attitude with her. Oh, there were plenty of times she could have, but she always chose to make him the hero. She always built him up and helped him out of whatever pickle they were in. In public or in private, my mother talked fondly of my father. Never poking fun or degrading him. To a little girl who often had itching ears, I picked up on it. She made me believe daddy walked on water.

When Chuck and I married, my father gave me some sound advice. He told me to let him be his own man. Give him room to make mistakes. One of my favorite movies is “Mcklintock.” There is a scene where John Wayne is explaining to his daughter, Becky, why she will not be inheriting all his land and fortune. He says, “But the real reason, Becky, is because I love you, and I want you and some young man to have what I had because all the gold in the United States Treasury and all the harp music in Heaven can’t equal what happens between a man and woman with all that growin’ together.”

Chuck kept his promise and fixed the mattress. He smoothed out some of the rough spots and tucked the springs back in. He picked the lumpiest side of the mattress to sleep on and gave me the smoother side. It was lopsided, so you kind of rolled towards the middle. We just decided it was designed that way so we could hold each other close. For three years, we slept on that mattress and every time I would wash the sheets, I would chuckle as I saw those tire tracks and think to myself…There is a giant inside.

“A soft answer turns away wrath” Proverbs 15:1

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