Leftovers

My husband gets the leftovers...and I don't mean meals. He gets my leftovers.

We have a great relationship. I love him more than I ever have. We hardly ever fight. We really enjoy just being with each other. It all sounds good, but at the end of the day, he walks in the door...I give him a half-smile and a kiss and continue to go about my duties.

I remember when I first saw Ted. I was in orientation at McDonald's, paying attention to the Manager when I saw him walk by in his polyester duds. He was carrying frozen fry boxes. I was attracted to him right away. I was 16 years old when I first saw my husband. He was 17. Eventually I got to know him at work. I loved it when I saw that we were scheduled together. I would happily anticipate my shift. We even exchanged some heated words: "I need a six piece please!" and "No more cheeseburgers in the bin!". I remember talking to him in the break room. I found out he played soccer and went to CBC, a local, private, all boys, Catholic highschool. Have I died and gone to heaven? (Back then I didn't know I should be looking for a great father and husband. I thought that a soccer jock with muscular legs and a great smile was all I needed!). He was easy to talk to. We played on the McDonald's softball team together. I would stare at his legs from the outfield while he was on first base. Besides being attracted to him, I saw something in him that was different from the other guys. He wasn't trying to put on a show. He was comfortable in his own skin. He didn't act cocky or fake.

One night, after close on a summer weekend, I looked up his house in the phone book. There quite a few Naumann's but I thought I would look for one that was close to our McDonald's. I didn't know his parent's name, so I didn't know if I had the right house, but I thought if I just drove by, I might see his car and know where he lived. I think my McDonald cookies fell or my visor or something...and I went to pick it up, and horror of horrors...I crashed straight into a street cleaning truck! My face slammed against the steering wheel (we had no airbags back then) and I bit into my tongue. I was freaking out! I climbed out of the car and knocked on the door of the house that I crashed in front of. Would you believe that his Uncle answered the door? It was NOT his house! I went to gradeschool with his cousin and I crashed in front of HER house!!! And her last name was not Naumann because it was her mother that was a Naumann. There was an unrelated Naumann next door or something...but anyway, I digress.

So here I am, bleeding mouth, 2:00am in the morning, letting Ted's uncle (whom I knew from church and being in his daughter's class) know that I needed help and he was in his underwear!!!! They checked out my tongue and called my parents. My sister and mom came over right away. While we were waiting, they asked what I was doing over there. I was totally embarrassed, but I told his cousin (who also worked at McDonald's) that I was looking for Ted's house (I never was a good liar). So anyway, I was taken to the ER and they gave me 12 stitches in the tongue.

I talked pretty funny after that. I remember talking to him in the break room afterwards and telling him about my accident all the while thinking, "You have NO idea this was all because of you!" His parents found out because, of course, their niece told them (what was I thinking telling HER!!!).

Eventually I told the McDonald's gossip queen that I liked Ted and she told him. He needed to break up from this girl he didn't like all that much and asked me out while I was on a "lobby break". Well...he thought he asked me out, but he never used the words. I figured what he meant, eventually. We started dating after that. Ted was the center of my universe! I wanted to see him all the time. We had the manager schedule us together whenever he could. I was passionate about this boy! I saw no wrong in him. Everything was rosey. We would close together and then kiss afterwards in his car with the creepy maintenance guy watching us from inside. We couldn't get enough of each other. We have plenty of love notes and momentos from our dating years.

Little did we know what we would start together. Now we have a mortgage, 4 kids, real jobs and responsibilities. It's hard to juggle it all. We know that somewhere underneath it all is a young couple who stole kisses in drive thru and the deep freeze. But for now, most of my kisses land on the little ones cheeks while my husband is out earning a living. It's real life. I know our passion isn't over. I see my parents. Boy are THEY passionate! It's a little sickening. And they had a ROUGH time raising 6 kids. I know I won't have to wait that long for our passion to come back. I do miss it.

In the meantime, I am making an oath. I want to do little things to show my husband I love him. I don' t want him to always feel like he gets the leftovers. I think a little more affection will go a long way.