Remember...

In the Star Trek movie, The Wrath of Khan, Spock does his vulcan mind meld with Bones, uttering one word -- Remember. And at the end of the movie Spock is dead, the audience is in tears of disbelief, and Bones is left with an odd look about him.

This is how I feel sometimes when I look at my husband. And it was while watching a Star Trek marathon that this idea hit me. It's not that my husband has pointy ears, or that he gets me in weird holds during pivotal times during our relationship. It was the word remember.

I need to remember when I walk into the house after running the girls every which way to every activity under the sun and the kitchen counters are stacked with filthy dishes. I need to remember that it is my husband that bathes our children, reads to them nightly without uttering the tired excuses that flow from my mouth, takes on homework assignments and tantrums that I have already dismissed, and rises to my defense when my voice is two notches above normal. It is my husband who, knowing full well the cost ineffectiveness of maple sugaring, built me a sugar shack, gets the propane tanks filled, and rises with me at 4 AM to start the boil. It is my husband who barely comments on how many evenings I am out due to school, church, writing, town commitments, or the fact we are having ptcakes surprise stew/soup/casserole for dinner for the third night in a row.

I need to remember love doesn't always come in flowers, candy, cards, and jewelry. I need to remember the sugar shack lights that just appeared one day, the question, "When are we going to paint the new shelves?", and the hand that warmly holds mine as we drift off to sleep.

Remember