My Knight

My sweet husband is a gentleman in every way and the most grownup person I have ever known, but once in a while he will do something uncharacteristic just to make me laugh.

A thunderstorm hit as we drove to the market. I had no coat. No hat. No umbrella.

I whined. “I’ll be drenched before I can get inside the store.”

My husband looked over at me. “You’re not so sweet you’ll melt.”

After a shocked pause, I laughed. He was right.

Then, my sarcastic knight dropped me off at the front door so I wouldn’t get wet.

When we were first married, he tried to tell me how to do his laundry. He wanted his underwear ironed. For one heartbeat, I thought he was serious and formed a proper rebuttal. The twinkle in his eye made me laugh instead. Still, he does his own laundry.

He tried to tell me he found elk feathers when we were out camping. I’m too woods savvy to fall for that, but it made me laugh.

My husband loves burritos. It has taken me years to convince him there are other food choices. When my daughter called the other day and told me she saw a restaurant called the Burrito Bandito, we laughed until I thought I’d pass out. My husband will never know that place exists.

Another memory came to mind.

Several years ago, I worked for a group of private bankers. The dress code required I wear skirts and heels. When the weather was foul, I wore winter boots and carried my dress shoes in a tote. 

One morning I arrived to work and discovered I had only one dress shoe. I must have dropped the other one at the bus stop. I couldn’t wear my snow boots with my skirt all day, and I had a moment of panic until I called my husband. The gallant man that he is, he agreed to find my shoe and bring it to the office.

Thirty minutes later, after receiving my shoe and a kiss, I rode the elevator back up to the office with two other gentlemen.

One kept looking from me to the shoe.

Finally, he could stand it no longer. “Are you looking for prince charming?”

I smiled. “Actually, I already found him. He just brought me the other shoe, the one I dropped in the at the bus stop.”

It wasn’t a long winding staircase leading from a castle, but close enough.

My knight may show a little wear and tear as we enter our golden years, but I wouldn’t trade him for anyone else in the world. He knows all my secrets, all my scars and wrinkles, and still loves me. He offers comfort, lends me his strength, and knows when and how to make me laugh, all just when I need it.

Although laughter doesn’t make the unpleasant things go away, it makes the world seem a little lighter. It is a blessing I intend to indulge in more often despite some circumstances, and I may even instigate some of it myself…