We May As Well Hold Hands

Today was Martin Luther King's holiday and Jana had the day off.  We decided to play so we arranged to meet Jana's sister in town to see the movie "The Blind Side".

Before leaving town Jana needed to drop something off at a friend's home.  When we got there I decided to go with Jana to the door just to say "Hi" before rushing off.  I left the engine running since we were going to be just a moment.

When we got back to the van I walked Jana to the passenger door and noticed it was locked, so I went over to my side to unlock it.  But my door was locked too.  We were locked out of our van with the engine running.

Jana thought she could ask her friend to give her a ride home, but then we realized that the house would be locked as well and the key was still in the ignition of the running van.  I called our neighbor and asked her if she had a key to our home and she didn't.

"Well, I guess I'd better call the lock shop."

A good friend of mine owns the lock shop and another friend is the office manager there so they teased me a bit when I called for their "professional services".  The manager said, "I've got one of the guys right here and I'll send him right over."

Great.  But by now we were running late on meeting Jana's sister at the theater.  I called her and told her our predicament.  She was already on her way to the theater to meet us but turned to go home until we called her back.

The lock shop wasn't very far away so I saw the familiar blue AAA-1 Lock and Key van turn the corner.  My friend, the owner, got out with a big smile on his face.  "What are you doing here?"  After joking with me for a moment he went around to the side door of his van and pulled out a bent wire with a hook on the end, came over to the passenger side of my van, reached the wire down into the door and, Pop!, the door was unlocked.

I followed him back to his van and said, "What do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it.  It's free today.  Have fun."  And then he left.

I went to the door of the home and told Jana, "We're ready to go."

"So soon?"

As we headed down the road I called Jana's sister back and told her we were on our way.  She turned around and headed back to the theater.  I apologized to Jana for goofing things up and causing the delay.  She never complained or even criticized me – or even made fun of me for that matter.  I'm not sure I would have had such restraint.

As we got out of our van to walk to the theater doors, Jana turned to me and said, "As long as we have these physical bodies we may as well hold hands."  She then reached over and took my hand.

We met Jana's sister in the theater and sat down in our seats just as the previews started.

Our time in these physical bodies is limited.  We'll have all kinds of little trials, inconveniences and learning experiences while we're here.  After all, we came here to earth to learn and these bodies are part of the lab equipment.  So I suppose the loving thing would be that, as long as we have these physical bodies, we may as well hold hands.
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IF YOU WOULD, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO COMMENT ON ONE OF THE LOVING THINGS, SMALL OR GRAND, THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED FROM SOMEONE IMPORTANT TO YOU.

Mush-Talk

When I was a teen, living at home, I knew my parents loved each other.  My dad's entire life seems to be dedicated to making my mother comfortable and helping her pursue her constant stream of creative ideas.  As kids we were no strangers to my parents display of affection for each other.  In their example I am truly blessed.

Even so, I could never imagine them making romantic, even mushy, love talk between them.

Jana and I are packing Arielle to college in two days.  Tonight I had worked it so I didn't have any meetings or appointments.  I wanted to be home and help out in getting her ready.  So, we went shopping.  Arielle was looking for specific pieces of her wardrobe which were yet lacking: a warm sweater, another pair of pants, athletic shoes; plus a couple culinary items: a colander, microwavable containers and measuring cups.

As we were shopping, somewhere between Maurice's and Old Navy Jana said, "Let me look at those pants."  She was referring to the fact that I bought a pair of Levi's at the Deseret Industries to replace a pair I had shrunk out of.  Then she said,

"I like the way those pants fit.  And I like that sweater; it's very manly.  And I like that shirt.  And I like that red jacket.  I like how it all looks together.  And I like what's in it."

See, I couldn't have pictured my dad, as demonstrably loving as he is, talking to my mom in that way, all mushy-like.  Jana didn't say it within earshot of Arielle, otherwise Arielle would have thrown up all over the Old Navy floor tile.  But I loved it.  And that, class, is a loving thing: mush-talk.  If you want to keep the pilot light on your love turned on, learn to mush-talk.
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IF YOU WOULD, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO COMMENT ON ONE OF THE LOVING THINGS, SMALL OR GRAND, THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED FROM SOMEONE IMPORTANT TO YOU.