Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Another Love Story

What a day! All is well. I have no pictures but I do have images in my mind. Several times I wanted to take Mr. Moon's picture. He is just so handsome to me, so leonine in his older age. In him I can certainly see the young man he was when we met and I love that boy so filled with self-assurance and the strength and heart to back it all up. I'd never even dated a jock, as far as I know, and here was this former basketball player, in prime physical shape who smiled more than anyone I ever met. I will never forget an early image I have of him- a photo of the mind. We were in a grocery store and he had a fifty-pound bag of dog food slung over his shoulder like I might have carried a kitten, and he was as happy and beaming and carried himself as if he were being presented to the queen. I may have fallen in love with that boy but the man I love now is so much more beautiful to me. His white hair and his face are the markers of a man who has spent his life working hard to take care of a family. They represent to me all of the years we have spent together, all of the difficulties we've had, the joyous times we've had, this very life we've shared. 

Well. That was not where I meant to go and yet, I did, which is okay. It is all true. I wanted to take his picture but I knew he would not want me to. I mean, who wants their picture taken pre-surgery or even post-surgery? 
No one. But take my word for this- he looked...well, the word that keeps coming to my mind is "noble."
Yes. Perhaps that is the exact right word. 

I got up at five. Since he couldn't eat or drink he slept another half hour. I bumbled about getting dressed and eating a yogurt and we got out of here at six but before we'd gotten to the interstate, I realized I'D LEFT MY PHONE AT HOME!
"You'll be fine without it," he said. 
"Oh no I won't," I said. And he turned back and I ran into the house to find it on the counter next to Jack. Both cats were sincerely confused at us being up this early. Maurice looked even more worried than she usually does. 
And although we lost a few minutes because of my forgetfulness, we still got to the medical facility a few minutes early. It looked as if it were not even open, the lights in it still dim. Another car was parked there with two women in it and then Glen saw a receptionist at the desk inside and so we went in. 
This was a surgery center and as the minutes passed and way before it began to really get light, people were coming in from the cold (there was frost on the windshield this morning) and standing in line to get their forms and then filling them out and sitting down to wait. 
The words "waiting room" say it all, don't they? 
But eventually they called him back and I went with him and they did all the things you have to do and told him all the things you have to be told and the nurse who was going to be there at the surgery was so funny and so sweet. She is fifty-seven years old and has an eighteen year old granddaughter. Now she's lived a life! 

And hasn't everyone? So many stories. As I sat in the waiting room waiting for his surgery to be over and to be called back, I could not help but study the people. Couples, mostly. Older couples for the most part. Holding hands or just holding on to each other, a hand on a thigh, a hand on an arm. And then real excitement! A prisoner was brought in, handcuffed and accompanied by at least five people. Four men and a woman? No sidearms that I saw, at least. And he may have been coming from a psychiatric hospital. I don't know. But it was difficult for him to walk and he was a small man, head bowed, and he looked confused and unsure of his surroundings as the people with him steered him with hands on his back, hands on the wide leather belt that his cuffs were attached to. They cleared out a small, separate waiting room and oh, how I would have liked to have known that story. What had this small man done? What was he having surgery for? He almost looked like he'd been beat up. Maybe he was. 
When the woman sent out to fetch him to take him back for his pre-op, she said to the entire group (they all went with him), "Welcome to the surgery center," and for some reason that just tore my heart. 

Finally they called me back and there was my man, all fixed up, dopey but not in pain. After he got dressed and the nurse had given us all of our post-op instructions, I got to meet the doctor and if I've ever met a doctor I liked more than my beloved Dr. Zorn, this might have been the one. He was tall and slender, in his sixties (he's about to retire), handsome and with a nose that had obviously been broken at some point which only added to his interest. He called Mr. Moon by his first name and before he left, they had bonded over being jocks (the doctor had played football) and the resulting injuries that plague them to this day, and the doctor joked with me about how I should talk to his wife because she knows what it's like to be married to a former jock and I told him that I was learning myself after thirty-eight years. 
"Y'all are great!" he kept saying. And so of course I found him delightful. 

And he said all had gone well, which of course is the most important thing. 

On the way home we stopped at a McDonald's (horror!) because I was so hungry and although my Egg McMuffin went down nicely, his Sausage McMuffin did not. Poor baby. We stopped at Publix to get his pain med prescription filled. They said it would be an hour so I drove him back to Lloyd and then I went back to town, stopped at the library because I had books dreadfully overdue and then back to Publix where I got his prescription and did my shopping because why not? I knew he was settled in his chair with coffee and water and his pillow and blankets and was probably sleeping. 

By the time I got home, put everything away, folded a load of laundry, fed us both some tomato soup and grilled cheese, I was exhausted myself so after making sure he was fine, I crawled back into bed and coma-slept for an hour and a half. I haven't taken a nap in well over a year but I needed one today. 

I cannot believe that it was only yesterday that I took care of August and Levon. It seems like another lifetime ago. 

And so that was that. 
I have checked on our tomatoes to see if they got harmed by the frost but they look to be fine, as do the peppers. My basil got nipped a little but it will recover. As we sat in the car this morning, waiting for the windshield to defrost, Glen said, "I told you I should have covered the tomatoes."
"And I told you it was too early to plant them," I said. 
We both laughed. 
And this, too, is long-love, marriage, when two people, one of whom is about to get a little surgery, are in a car with a frosted-over windshield in the 6 a.m. darkness, faux-bickering to make each other laugh. And then holding hands on the way to town, me sipping the coffee from the cup he'd poured for me, tempering it first with hot water, even though he could not have any himself. 

As I said at the beginning, all is well. 

Love...Ms. Moon


31 comments:

  1. Ahhh what a lovely post!😍 We’ve both been lucky in love - I’ve been married for 33 years this June, and we’re still having so much fun together! I’m getting all excited about planting lettuce and carrots, it’s very much spring-like this week… and so much gardening to do it makes me dizzy thinking about it!😅But it’s all for fun, and there really are no laws saying we have to do it all😄Hope your hubby recovers quickly!🤗Xo, Rigmor

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are absolutely NO laws saying you have to do it all. Thank you for reminding me. I love that you and your husband are still so happy together after thirty-three years. That is definitely long enough to know whether or not you like someone!

      Delete
  2. So glad Mr Moon doing well....and hope will continue to do well under your loving care. This post is just beautiful.......brought a lump to my throat........the love,,,,,,,, is just. too. much.
    Susan M

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan, I know I've said this a million times but I never thought I would be lucky enough to have a love like this one.

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm glad all went well, and you're still so bonded, it's wonderful to read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are pretty dang bonded. The first thing the doctor said to me when we introduced ourselves was, "I hear you kinda like this guy," which made me think that Glen had something kind about me to him. I like thinking that.

      Delete
    2. Of course, he was on drugs!

      Delete
  5. Glad to know your adventure went well, Mr. Moon is on the mend and you got a bit of needed rest. Wishing you both a peaceful night.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I slept great. I'm not so certain that he did though. This is rough.

      Delete
  6. Another tender tale told with such grace. I am glad that Glen's surgery went according to plan.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Glad all is well and he is home. There is something special about marriages that have lasted the test of time. We have 46 years in April. I think we are better now than we have ever been.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm so glad everything went well and you are both safely home again. I'd love to know the prisoner story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd love to know that story too. Damn. That was a lot of guards/escorts.

      Delete
  9. My DIL is a psychiatric nurse and pre-pregnancy worked in a local out-patient psychiatric hospital. She isn't going back as while she loved her patients she hated the admin AND hated getting knocked around at least once a week by a patient. They had to call the police in every week to take the patient off to hospital so she doesn't miss that part of it. And I'm glad Mr. Moon's surgery went well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The first psychiatric patient I ever had jumped on my back the first day. I think it was a form of testing. I ended up feeling huge amounts of sympathy for her. But hell- it's hard to have to deal with things like that all the time. And I'm sure the administration was a beast to work with.

      Delete
  10. Pleased to hear that the surgery went well. I am sure Mr.Moon will soon be back to his own self with your loving ministrations!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a beautiful love letter. So happy all went well.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for your microwave suggestions, My cover actually blew off! That cleaning tip is great! Have a good day and best to Mr. Moon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The cover blew off?! Mine has never done that.

      Delete
  13. When Tim was in the hospital, post stroke, we were at the end of this tiny narrow hall. And in the room right next to his, was a police officer sitting in a chair right outside the door. 24/7. Much to my shock, coming back to the room with a cup of coffee, I saw that there was another police officer sitting right by his bed within arm's reach. I was very curious myself. The man in the bed was sitting upright with a blanket over his head. That little scene you described was very sweet. May we all have the grace always to see each other as human beings.

    Glad Mr. Moon is home and doing well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Upright with a blanket over his head. Wow.
      So, so many stories in this world and we will never know more than a very few.

      Delete
  14. glad to hear things went as they should. I think maybe my potatoes rotted. I planted them two days before that week of winter and wet and I think they should have broke ground by now and they have not. but the tomatoes look fine.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Don't give up on your potatoes yet! They can take a long time to come up, especially depending on the variety. Today, two days after our frost, I can see that our potatoes were also nipped but I think they'll survive. The tomatoes show a little cold damage too but it's not bad.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm glad all is well. That's a nice image, you and Mr. M in the car having your pre-dawn talk about the tomatoes. :)

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.