Blast from the Past
.....he remembered!

The day he got his head shaved before boot camp.
Before and After.

Leave after boot camp.

Christmas Day. Three weeks after we became engaged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forty-two years ago today at a nice steak and lobster restaurant where my husband was a line cook and I was a hostess, both working our ways through college, my husband asked me out on our first date.

 We had been watching each other for the five days I worked there and he had been teasing me unmercifully and.....well, there was a lot of smiling going on as he grilled steaks and as I sat diners at their tables.
I fell ----not for him, not yet. I fell because of him---splat----right on the floor, missing a step in the dark sunken dining area as we exchanged smiles yet again.
This sent him into waves of  laughter as I got up unhurt except for my pride!
I had decided I did not like working there so I had given my notice and this was my last night.
My husband asked me on this night how I liked working there and I said not much, I quit.
He stammered as if trying to figure out what to do and asked if I'd like to go out after work.
Well, I was a junior at a nearby college and had a term paper due.
I should have said no and gone home to finish my paper.
But going out with this blue-eyed, auburn-haired guy with an enchantingly crooked smile
was awfully tempting and had the added perk of not working on my term paper.
This decision was a no-brainer.
I said yes.
This was the first in a long string of dates
Days later he was inducted into the USMC because of a long line of mis-information,
mis-understanding and mis-communication. 

He had to postpone (for four years) transferring to the out-of-state university
at which he was accepted and due to attend just six weeks later. He did
eventually get to go to the university and graduated from
there with a degree in Wildlife Biology and Forestry.
In the flurry of activity we were together every day until he left taking care
of things before he had to leave.
In those few days there were no nice restaurants, no date-manners, no dressing up.
We ran around doing normal things that had to be done and I loved that.
I was usually at his house because he wanted to spend time with his parents too.
When I went home at night I shared all that was going on with my parents with whom I still lived.
We got to know each other well because
what we were doing was real life stuff, not date magic.
The day he was inducted into the corps we were together in Los Angeles for 12 hours.
I cried when he left. I had fallen by this time for sure!

This morning he started some laundry for me and I am going to do some computer work for him.
After I found out he did the laundry I leaned over, kissed him, and said,
"I'm glad I said yes 42 years ago."
He smiled but looked puzzled as he said, "But this isn't our anniversary."
And then, before I could respond, he said, "Oh, our first date!" We smiled.
After all these years he still remembers.I love that. 

He may need me to ask, what date this is,  he rarely remembers such things
on his own, being a guy---it is we "gals" who mark such occasions.
And this man who can never remember where he left his glasses, cell phone or
tools much less find anything in the kitchen------remembers things like this.
I am blessed.

Now, that doesn't mean that those of you who have
husbands who forget such things
 are not blessed.
My husband does have faults as we all do. This just doesn't happen to be one of them!
Look for the things in your spouse that you love. Don't focus on the
things that drive you crazy.
Remember, you have things that drive him crazy whether you know it or not.
Thank him for what he does for you and your family.
My husband always thanks me for dinner---always has.
He also thanks God for providing the food when he prays before we eat.
That got me realizing that I never thank him for what he does.
So, I started one night a couple years ago thanking him. He wasn't sure

what I meant, so I told him how I appreciate him working so hard 

and putting food on our table. His eyes sparkled and he smiled.
God provides and He usually uses means.
I am the means whom God uses to prepare what God has provided through the
means of my husband working.
We are always thankful to God but we should let the "means" know we are thankful
for their faithfulness in doing what they are called to do.
So at night when my husband leans over to take the dishes
to the sink----this is something he started doing a few years ago----he kisses me and
thanks me and I return with a thank you to him. We both smile.
It is nice to be appreciated.
My husband once said to me early in our Christian walk that
it was weird (nicely so) that the better he treats me the better I treat him.
Doesn't matter who begins it---it is a circle----it is how it is supposed to be.
This is how marriage should work.
We are not responsible to make sure our husbands do the right thing (in our own eyes).
We are responsible for our own actions.
Comb the scriptures----it doesn't take long to discover this principle.
So, go on a treasure hunt.
Look for the things that are exemplary about your husband, the things that
endear him to you.
Ask God to help show you things about him and to
learn to appreciate him even more.
Kathi~