It always comes back to the mother more than the father. Even I have a
tendency to blame my mother-in-law for all of Craigley's shortcomings. However,
that is being so short-sighted that it is not even punny funny!
At the beginning of our
relationship, Craigley wondered what he could do to make me happy?! I told him
quite honestly that he simply needs to be there for me. I have always been
super low maintenance!! This was prior to us getting married. In an ironic
twist, seconds into our first dance as a married couple, Craigley left me all
alone in the middle of the dance floor when he got distracted by a cute
toddler. For a couple of minutes, I was a little stunned and disoriented. In a
rather sad second ironic twist, my song selection for our dance was Ben E. King’s
"Stand By Me".
I am not rehashing that
memory to make Craigley appear insensitive in any way. Craigley, for all
intents and purposes, did not do that with any malicious intent or on purpose.
He was simply being Craigley. And he definitely had no clue he had just married
a woman with an elephant's memory!
Fast forward to a few days ago...
I had this dinner to attend.
It was a dinner that recognizes parents who work on School Councils. 2 parents
are invited from each School Council. For reasons that are not important to the
telling of this tale, I had to make the decision to attend this dinner all by
myself or not at all. It was a busy day and I almost chose to not go. However,
I decided that if I can't even rely on myself, it is quite pathetic at the end of
the day.
Craigley made a little fun of
me as he drove me to the dinner to drop me off. In spite of taking digs at me
and at a certain friend of mine, he insisted that I call him when the dinner
was done. It was a 3 hour event and I let him know that I could easily take the
TTC back. I had no intention of making Craigley drive all the way back for me.
The 3 hours went by rather
quickly and I actually had fun with the other parents at my table. We swapped
stories from each other’s’ schools and got to laugh a bit. When we were done, I
gathered my stuff and made sure I had a TTC token in my hand as I got ready to
leave. And I did not make that call to Craigley...
...so imagine my surprise
when I saw Craigley right outside of the first set of doors and the car right
across from the next set of doors. Talk
about door to door service!
Grandiose gestures of romance do not involve diamonds or fancy flights
of fantasy. They are usually simple gestures that show you care and you are
there.
Even though I will never
forget that moment where Craigley left me in the middle of a dance floor where
we were being watched by a 100+ audience consisting of our families and friends,
I will also never forget the most recent gesture where Craigley showed up
amidst a sea of 300+ strangers.
Next month is our 18th wedding anniversary. In all the time that has
gone by, I would say that we were best at producing 2 absolutely adorable baby
boys who are growing up to be amazing people. But the boys have a long way to
go before they can truly demonstrate how far they are willing to drive or walk
for the people they care about. For now, I have general faith in their genetic
predisposition. And I am sure if that doesn't come through for them in any way,
I will be at the receiving end of all miserable complaints.
So, boys, please take the time to read and do not make the same
historical mistakes. And while you are at it, learn from some historical
grandiose gestures. Thank you. And here is another song for you: The
Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” that was featured in one of my all-time
favourite quirky romantic dramas “Benny and Joon”.
No comments:
Post a Comment