His Present Wife

His Present Wife
August 12, 2009

If the saying "You are what you eat" is true, and I think maybe it is because I'm looking more and more like a can of Pepsi, then there should be a saying that goes something like "Your attitude defines your day."

Take yesterday for example. The day seemed to start without me, which left me scrambling to catch up with it. Nothing overly significant went wrong. It was more like a series of mini-blunders that left me shaking my head and spitting out grumpy mumblings. At this point I could go into a lot of tedious detail and explain just how the day began to deteriorate, but I'll just cut to the chase and get to the point.

I'm not a certified recluse although I do hate leaving the comfort of my home and ranch. I'd say I'm more like a home-body. I'm the opposite of the typical stereotype woman who loves to head to town and shop. In fact, I dread fighting the traffic and the crowds and when I see the price of things, sticker shock nearly stops my heart.

This is where my theory about attitude setting the mood for the day comes into play. There was no way to get out of going to town yesterday. It was a typical run-around errand day with stops that would include the bank, the grocery store, the feed store, the hardware store and on and on.

The first stop was the bank . It was a hot morning, and I was in such a scrambled mind-set that I locked my keys in the truck. Perfect! Just what I needed! Fortunately we live in a small friendly town, so the folks at the bank let me use their phone to call AAA. The dispatcher said they were having a rather busy day and it would be at least half an hour before she could get someone out to help me.

Frustrated, I stomped back to the parking lot, flipped down the tailgate of the truck and with a grumble hoisted my self onto it to wait for the tow company. I was about to boil over with bad attitude, when I saw an elderly man limping along pushing a walker. At first I thought he was headed into the bank, but then I realized he was headed directly toward me. He approached as though he knew me and said "Well hello there, mind if I join you?"

Of course I mind I thought, but instead I gave a flat lipped smile and patted the open space next to me on the tail gate and said "hop up."

We sat for a minute in silence then he pointed to his feet and said "You know I have some fierce bone spurs on both my feet. I spent most of my life working on my feet, and they hurt like the devil."

I seriously wasn't in the mood for conversation, and I was wishing he'd just go about his business and leave me with my miserable attitude, but there he was so I gave a sympathetic smile and said "I'm sorry, it must be awful to try and get around."

He nodded and said "Do you know what my present wife did for me?" before I could ask he went on "Well sir, my present wife cut holes in a couple of those inserts where the spurs hit so they don't hurt quite so bad." I noted the emphasis on the word present when he spoke of his wife.

"Well, that's great" I said "You'd better keep that present wife of yours." I was wishing he'd just leave and let me sulk in peace, but he continued "Oh you don't need to worry about that, my present wife and I will never part."

I nodded my head and said "That's great." Then he suddenly turned sideways on the tailgate so that we were making direct eye contact and said "Do you know why I call her my present wife?"

Well, that's a no-brainer I thought, most likely because she is the latest in a series of wives, but I shook my head and patronizingly said "No, why do you call her your present wife?"

Quietly he slid off the tailgate and positioned himself in his walker and looked at me with pale blue eyes that started to tear and very positively said "Because she was my present to myself fifty-two years ago when I married her!" Without another word he turned and shuffled his walker toward the bank entrance.

My throat swelled and my eyes welled with tears, and I thought of my "present husband" that I gave to myself twenty-seven years ago when we married. That gimpy old man that I really didn't want to share my space with snapped my attitude back into shape in a big hurry and the day just kept getting better and better. Maybe we really do meet angels unaware.

I'm sure we all have a present something-or-another that we can be thankful for. A wife, a husband, a child, a friend. Those we love are indeed presents to ourselves.