Tonight, my Dad went outside. It was 45 degrees, nice for some states, but pretty freezing for South Florida. So he was understandably bundled up as he stepped out to, of all things, cover my mother’s orchid shed.
My mom loves flowers, specifically orchids. She even asked my dad to build a shed for them in our backyard so we could hang the ones that don’t grow in soil. And tonight, he went outside and covered all sides of the open-air shed to make sure that her orchids wouldn’t wither in the chill.
Helping him and watching him bundled up in his thick jacket and gloves, it struck me: it must be love. Sure, you could argue that it was just my mother nagging at him (she’s great at that). But I can always ignore her nagging and risk her wrath, because I tend to be an inconsiderate daughter. My dad, on the other hand, makes the conscious decision to not piss her off. Or rather, and perhaps more accurately, he makes the choice to keep her happy.
So, I repeat, “It must be love.”
I mean, what else could drive a 50+ year old man into what he calls the “freezing cold” for the sole purpose of laying tarp over the flower shed that he himself built, just to make sure his wife’s flowers don’t die?
I’m not sure if some husbands would do that within 10 years of marriage, let alone over 25 years.
Something like that, that's what I want.
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