Birthday Boy

One week ago, November 3, was CJ's 36th birthday. This year was the fourth year we have celebrated his birthday together. The first year landed us at the doctor's office...



It was officially our second date even though we had seen each other at church choir practice and hung out other times. CJ asked me to keep the night open for him so that we could go on date. He wanted it to be a surprise so he didn't tell me what we were doing. That evening he picked me up at my house and drove me back to his. As we walked in the door I could smell the lovely aroma of dinner cooking. I was really hungry! He gave me a tour of his home as the food finished cooking. After CJ dished up the delicious looking chicken, peas, and rolls we sat down to eat. He held out his hand for mine and prayed for our meal.

Just as I was picking up the knife to cut into my roll, CJ commented on the superb quality of the knives and how sharp they were. I found out just how insanely sharp they were! Not only did the knife cleanly cut the bread but it also cut right into my pinkie finger. I dropped the roll and calmly said to CJ, "Look what I just did." It took a moment for CJ to process the fact that blood was pouring out of my hand and completely covering the dinner he had just made that I hadn't even touched yet. Did I mention I was hungry?!

In what seemed like hours but were actually just seconds, CJ jumped out of his chair, raced to the hallway linen closet and grabbed his Boy Scout approved first aid kit. I was instructed to come to the kitchen sink to wash out my wound. With my head resting on his shoulder as I watched him clean and bandage my finger, I said in sick voice," I am going to need stitches." He seemed to agree so we promptly left for the doctor's office with our lovely dinner still on the table.

I was very glad and surprised to see my doctor since she was the one who happened to be on call that night. Dr. L assesed my wound and the nurse began preparing for sutures as I relayed the events that unfolded in the past half hour. Dr.L was very impressed with the wrapping that my Eagle Scout date had done. CJ held my good hand while Dr. L sewed up my finger. I need to mention that I was even more hungry at this point and very woozy with all blood and procedures. Dr. L had to tilt the head of the bed down to get blood flow to my head because she was concerned I was going to pass out. Finally it was time to go.

CJ was intending to take me home right away but I insisted that I was fine and that we had dinner to finish. We went back to his house and dished me up a new plate of food. Of course we had to use the microwave to reheat our food since the chicken and peas had cooled while we were at the doctor' office. CJ graciuosly cut my chicken for me after watching me struggle to hold the knife that I was now very afraid of. What a wonderful man. What an awkward situation.

I gave CJ his birthday gift which was a compilation of C.S. Lewis books. Needless to say, I was very surprised when he handed me a gift bag containing a DVD of The Notebook. I had mentioned how much I love that movie so CJ bought it so we could watch it together that evening. It ended up being a wonderful night where tragedy drew us together. OK, that might be overly dramatic but I will never forget how thoughtful and generous CJ was on his own birthday not to mention the care and concern when things went awry. That's when I began to fall in love with him.



I am sorry to say that I have forgotten how we spent years two and three but this year I made him dinner with no mishaps whatsoever. His gift was a long-obsessively-awaited iPhone 3G. We also visited the Twin City Model Railroad Museum in honor of his love of trains big and small.



I don't know what we will do next year or the next but I pray for many more birthdays with my wonderful husband.



But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and JOYful.
Psalm 68:3