Valentine’s Day got me to thinking. For me it’s the little things, but before I get to those I wanted to share something else.
When I first started my blog, I always referred to Honey as The Boy. I did so because my dad was alive at the time, and well…from the first day Honey arrived at our door to pick me up for a date my dad called him ‘the boy’. It kind of stuck after hearing it over decades. In fact, even after we were married, had two children who grew up and went off to college, my dad would always ask, “When’s the boy going to be home?” He loved to shoot the breeze with the boy.
So when dad passed in 2011 I had a hard time calling Honey, The Boy. Doing so always reminded me of my dad. Which wasn’t such a bad thing, only that it was painful. I mention this and bring up my dad because in terms of what makes a guy a man, Honey being called ‘The Boy’ for most of a lifetime – immortalized even in my blog – has to qualify as one of the little things he did for me. Actually, it’s kind of big if you weren’t man enough to take it, you know what I mean? Never did Honey complain about the title. Not when dad said it and not when I wrote it over and over week after week on this site.
Other little things that make my guy a man to me? Well, he makes sure my car is all filled with gas. My tire pressure is always perfect. The car is backed into the garage so all I have to do is drive out. I suspect that last one is for both of us as it’s illegal to drive without taillights AND there wouldn’t be any. Heck there’d be no backend as I totally SUCK
Honey makes sure that the flowers I love in the garden always get watered. Yeah, I suck at remembering to sprinkle most days. He cuts himself nearly every week on the deadly thorns of the bougainvillea bush that has to be tamed and yet, I still insist we keep anyway, in the backyard. And speaking of our circle-of-life backyard, he’s saved our pain in the ass resident squirrel, Steven King, from death by hawk once and then secretly nursed him back to health. So yeah, I could continue to add the little’s that make my guy a man to me, but after yesterday even those things seemed insignificant in light of what he did. Again, it wasn’t big and it was only important to those I love. So yeah, for me this gesture trumped all the little’s he’s done for me over the years.
After spending a very hectic day with clients I was just wrapping up my work when Honey called me. Here’s the conversation.
How’s your Valentine’s day going?
Busy.
Okay, I’ll go to the store. Did you think of anything else we needed?
No, I’ll see you at home in an hour or so.
It was more an hour and half and when I got there Honey wasn’t home. I got changed, took the Red Devil out for a walk and started dinner when he came through the door. Of course he had beautiful gladiolus for me. They’re my favorites, but he also had a huge bouquet of Daylilies. Those are my mother’s favorites and when I saw them I blinked. In all the busy life stuff I had going on I’d forgotten that this was Valentine’s Day for her too.
Honey hadn’t forgotten. And when I heard him deliver those flowers to my mom and say, “Pretty flowers for a pretty lady” exactly the way my dad used to bring those lilies to mom on Valentine’s day? I knew then, that where ever daddy was at that moment The Boy was now The Man.
I can’t explain how much this meant to me. All I can say, is this was the best Valentine’s Day present, Honey ever got me! My mom was walking on air for the rest of the night and I know someone up there daddy was smiling because of it.
Riley