It was Papa's 81st birthday. Randy and I took him to Crown Burger for a nice juicy cheeseburger. He loves a good cheeseburger. We sat down to wait for our order. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a stranger, a portly, elderly, suspendered man, approach our booth. He came so close! I thought he was actually going to sit on me! He caught my attention (of course) and looked me straight in the eye.
"Is he with you?" he asked seriously while pointing a finger at Randy.
"Yes," I replied questioningly.
"Well...," he said with a giant smile on his face, "He owes YOU big time! He owes you five dozen long-stemmed, thornless, Texas yellow roses! You make him look so much better!"
And that was that. He made me chuckle to myself the rest of the day. After gloating for a while, I faced reality and thought, "Maybe Randy owes me big time, but I'm certain I owe him more." It takes a lot of love and patience for a man to be a good husband; to live with a woman through her ups and downs for nearly 30 years; to be persistent in making her smile even when she doesn't really want to; to put in a very full day's work at the corporate office, a full evening of service at the bishop's office, and still give of himself freely at the "home office"; to put his own needs and wishes on the back burner while tending to his wife's list of "honey-do's".
So tonight I will meet him at the door with a kiss, I will rub his aching back and tell him how much I love and appreciate him. I think he'll like that even more than 6 dozen yellow roses.
"My heart is ever at your service." -- William Shakespeare
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