At first glance, my parents are polar opposites... my dad, the free-spirited, prodigal teddy bear married to my mom, the socially timid, ever-faithful bookworm. I was very young when I realized that this was an unconventional match up. Some of my earliest memories were watching my parents in public situations and I think, even then, I found it humorous. My dad would be all over the place talking to anyone and everyone until he made some joke, to which everyone listening would laugh, except my mom. She would simply smirk and look around for a pair of sympathetic eyes. I later came to understand that her look was not embarrassment or pity even, but rather her acknowledgment that she had very little control of what her husband said. This honestly is one of my favorite things about my parents. Because no matter how many times I have seen that look from my mom, I know (in their own odd, little way) my parents are perfect for each other.
Recently, I have suspected that my own marriage may be following in my parents' footsteps. I realized last night that the number one thing my husband says to me, besides "I love you", is "You're not funny." Now, I don't take offense to this because he is almost always laughing when he says it. (That kind of negates his point.) But I'm 90% sure that my husband is either embarrassed
by me or
for me. He insists that before I post ANYTHING on this blog, I must run it by him first... which I rarely ever do. He nearly died when he saw the post about our
new dishwasher. I guess I can only hope that my own children find this as endearing as I did growing up.