To Love And Be Loved

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College gal me…

Was hanging out with friends when someone asked, “What do you think is the most attractive thing about a guy?”…

Heard the typical responses…eyes, hair, butt, smile…and then laughter broke out because one of us…and she shall remain nameless…said forearm…

Ok, she’s not nameless, she’s gonna own it because college me DID always notice a man’s forearms first…forearms and hands…strong, sinewy, artistic…could tell a lot about a person…

And so it was…forty years later…waiting at the hotel waffle station for breakfast to cook was greeted by someone at the adjacent waffle maker…

A cowboy…an old dad cowboy having breakfast with his teen daughter…and not gonna lie, this old-dad-cowboy-having-breakfast-with-his-teen- daughter had pretty nice forearms…

Couldn’t help but notice because this old-dad-cowboy-having-breakfast-with-his-daughter forgot to spray the waffle maker with oil so as he chatted there was hand to hand combat between that weird plastic fork thing and his stubborn stuck waffle…

And for once, normally chatty me, felt awkward…because she’d just rolled out of bed, pinned her hair up, threw on yesterday’s clothes, and was nothing less than disheveled…

Especially later when that old-dad-cowboy-having-breakfast-with-his-teen-daughter’s wife showed up…and she was gorgeous…all made up…fancy cowgirl outfit…obviously staying back to get ready…

And it made an old gal think…an old-gal-having-breakfast-with-a-man-who-has-a-really-cool-tattoo-on-his-forearm…that she’s glad those days are past…the days of over-primping…the days of over-caring…

And what a relief it is to be loved and accepted disheveledness and all…and she just had to share this revelation to this man-with-the-really-cool-tattoo-on-his-forearm eating away at some oatmeal with raisins…

“Thank you for loving me just the way I am,” came the soap opera words…

And that man…that man-with-the-really-cool-tattoo-on-his-forearm who was completely unaware of the saga going on in the head of his anything but beautiful breakfast partner, responded with…

“What?”

And so it is…in life…what a blessing it is to love and be loved…and what a blessing it is to to be loved for who we are…warts and all…
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And that husband of mine…agrees…