Picture this: A Rainy Thursday evening in Kirkland. I'm waiting for a break in the raindrops (this proved futile) to go get some exercise. While I'm waiting, I figure I'd better keep up my energy. Solution? Frozen chocolate chip cookies in outdoor freezer. (it only takes one). I head out the backdoor onto the rain-soaked deck.
Note: rain-soaked deck = ice rink.
I go flying up into the air and then crashing down onto hands, elbows, thighs, knees. This was not pretty. But because I am a goal-oriented person, I persevere and fight my way to the outdoor freezer. Frozen chocolate chip cookies are a great pain-reliever (it takes several). I head back in after getting out frozen ground beef, turkey breast and everything else I will ever need (cookies tucked nicely in hand), because I am NEVER going out on that deck again.
At this point my mood shifts from one of motivated exercise junky to old woman who was lucky not to have broken a hip. I crank up the fireplace to about 80 degrees, grab old quilt and hunker down with the remote. I decide to treat myself to a chick flick, because 1) Steve is working late, 2) I've almost broken a hip, as you'll recall and 3) I am going to the temple tomorrow so my spirituality is obviously in great shape. (and yes, this was the actual response in my head in answer to my question if I really deserved this luxury).
So I flip through my On Demand choices, with one thought in mind: finding a film that Steve will never want to watch. After flipping through several options, I see Nights in Rodanthe and figure why not? While Richard Gere is my sister's Anne thing and not mine, I know I'll never get to see this in Steve's presence... so I give it a try. I should have known as soon as I saw "based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks" (my gag reflexes unaccountably kicked in at this point). But I've paid my $5.99... yes, I had sprung for the HD version, because I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I'd taken a fall so I deserved it.
I spent a good deal of the movie rolling my eyes and it wasn't until I heard Steve roll into the driveway an hour and a half after the movie was over, that I realized why. I'm sick to death of Hollywood discounting long-term relationships in favor of "the love of one's life" because they spent a weekend together once.
My husband is the love of my life, not because of flowery speeches or sexy love letters. It's because he comes home to me every night. And typically, he seems genuinely happy to be there. Even after 26 years of the place. Because of the Little Things. Like, sometimes after I've gone to bed if he sees my cell phone isn't in the charger, he'll hunt around for it, so my cell doesn't run out of batteries the next day. Or, because he says that he'd rather ski with me than anyone. And he says it in a way that makes me believe it, even though it defies all logic. And because, he'd rather watch American Idol with me than on his own. This isn't meant to be a love-letter to my husband, although, he certainly deserves one.
It's a love letter to life-long commitment. Through it all. Through 5:00 am alarm clocks, bill paying, weight gain, and the tedium of hearing each other's rants too many times. I could write a sonnet about Steve's reaction to someone cutting him off in traffic and he could write one about mine when I've made dinner and people don't rush to the table when it's ready to be served. We've heard it all before and we still keep coming home to each other. So, please don't tell me that I gave up all my dreams because I chose to be married young. Don't tell me that I can't or didn't "fulfill" myself because I "settled" for a life as a wife and mother. Don't tell me that this weekend that Richard Gere and Diane Lane share has more meaning than a life time of love being tested by... life.
Because that is what it is about. The weekends away are fabulous! But it's the day-to-day, year-in and year-out grind that tests, proves and refines True Love.
I will give the movie one star. For Richard Gere who is looking great! He appears to be botox and laser-surgery free and looks more handsome than he did when he was An Officer and A Gentleman.
Anne, I finally get the appeal!
Chinese New Year... in Paris
Chinese New Year Dinner Celebration... 
Back at the Eiffel Tower
A frozen fountain
Versailles
