We have had storm force winds over here for the past few days and, on Monday, our new Gazebo (which we put up for our daughter's wedding last year) was blown over but, fortunately, it wasn't really damaged.
Hubby will be 68 in July and a little while ago, I was watching him out of the window, lifting the gazebo up and pulling it back into position, and it suddenly hit me - "My goodness, how on earth would I manage if anything happened to him."
I am a real romantic and, unfortunately, hubby isn't. Not on a day to day basis anyway, although he has always come up with some lovely gifts and trips away for my special birthdays, and anniversaries and Valentine's Day are never forgotten. But, he isn't particularly tactile, so I don't get many hugs. Nevertheless, this man (who saw three tours of duty in Northern Ireland and also was involved in the Falklands conflict when he was a senior NCO in the Army) has always been there for me, and he has been a terrific dad to our two girls, and he loves his three grandchildren to bits.
The more observant of you might notice that I have a new quotation on the right hand side of my blog, which says "we tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have."
The washing machine broke down on Monday and there was hubby able to fix it. He can install new bathrooms and kitchens, take a car engine to pieces and repair it and a million and one other things that have happened over the years. He is a quiet man, who does things in a quiet way, and never asks for praise, so I really should recognize and appreciate what I do have.
Okay, he doesn't get excited about things (which I do - in a big way!) and he doesn't talk very much, and he has never told me that I look nice, but, still, looking out of that window this morning, I realized that if anything did happen to him and he was no longer here with us, then I would be completely and utterly bereft.
