She works a relatively short time on my husband and congratulates him on how well he flosses. He smiles shyly and thanks her.
My husband Paul NEVER flosses. He doesn't HAVE to floss. HIS body doen't produce plaquePlaquBut of course he's too polite to tell her that!
God is SO unfair. No - God has a sense of humor.
I swear God chose us for each other because we're different in the ways that count. I remember when to send birthday cards and presents. He remembers when the bills are due. When our kids were young, I, the Morning-with-the-Songbirds person, got up with the toddlers, and he, the Night Owl, was waiting when the teens got home. I still sometimes wonder how we ever found the right time period to make babies!
Paul communicates with cars and can openers and computers. I communicate with plants. (Lest you think his skill is more practical, houseplants produce oxygen.) And I can change light bulbs and he'll notice when an orchid blooms. We learned long ago that, rather than expect the other to be a clone of oneself, it's much better to complement AND compliment each other!
We've also learned that we grieve differently. We still do. When our son died from brain cancer, Paul could bury himself in work. I had to bury my head in a pillow and cry. Paul, the extrovert, needed the TV on to hear other people's voices. I, the introvert, needed to be quiet and alone. At first, rubbed raw by grief, we'd fight. Now we accept that we're different and that's OK. When one's weak, the other's strong. Peter's been dead for two years now, but just the other day, seeing an advertisement for Roswell Park on TV as we ate breakfast, Paul burst into tears. I went to his side and held him, the way he often holds me. I began to cry and we cried together.
We've reached a new, deeper level of understanding and growth through going through tragedy together and not breaking apart - all through the grace of God. We understand others who grieve and aren't afraid to hold them when they cry.
We enjoy laughing together, too. At the antics of a baby grand-daughter on Facebook. At the funny interactions of the guys on "Hawaii 5-0." At each other. (Nothing's funnier than the way a woman who wears hearing aids can goof up a conversation.) In the Winter of our years, we've realized that life is a Divine Comedy - after all, it ends in the Victory of Resurrection rather than in the defeat of Death.
So - after all these years and tears and laughs and gaffes, I love the guy. And I'll never tell the Dental Hygienist he doesn't have to floss.