Love Thursday

Love Thursday is a tradition I've seen a lot over at Woulda Coulda Shoulda. I've decided to pick it up, at least for this week. We could all use a little more love in our lives.

My Love Thursday is dedicated to the Boyfriend, who very patiently waited through the divorce proceedings until things were legal and who has been very supportive ever since I met him (which was after the Ex had left and my life was pretty thoroughly chaotic).

BF has been the victim of one of my biggest character flaws: I have a complete inability in some moments to see the bigger picture. I am a detail-oriented person, and this can be a great strength when it comes to studying medicine and understanding the intricacies of how things work. I use this ability to focus on tiny things to maintain concentration when I study. I use it to understand how ingredients will cook and be able to predict how they will interact with each other. I use it to find ways of comforting people.

But then there are the days when it becomes a curse. Like a few days ago, when BF ate out of one of my non-stick pots with a metal spoon. For the five millionth time. And of course, the only thing I could see was my frustration with this (really very insignificant) transgression. The cost of the pots! It is so high! And I have told him to use a bowl when he cooks at my place! There were clean bowls! And the pot is mine, not his, so I'll have to pay to replace it if he breaks it! And the metal spoon could scrape off the teflon and give me cancer! Or Alzheimer's! Or a bad day!

It was truly the end of the world, I will have you know. Obviously.

The thing is, that's about the only bad thing I can say about BF: he can't remember he's eating from a non-stick pot. That's it. It's truly terrible, I know. Probably the worst fault a person could have.

Just last night, after a night of horrible sleep the night before, I fell asleep on his shoulder. He let me sleep and did absolutely nothing (didn't want to disturb me) for 30 minutes. I woke up again all of a sudden, convinced I hadn't been sleeping because I couldn't remember it, and then promptly fell back asleep for another 15 minutes.

In other words, he sat still as a human pillow for 45 minutes with no book, TV, or internet to occupy him. And then I didn't thank him, because I am really sweet like that. When he finally had to go to work, he commanded me to stay in bed and then tidied up the living room before leaving. Again, not much thanks from the semi-conscious Emily. I stumbled around the apartment a little bit because I had to clean out the kitty litter boxes and I insist on not letting BF do that for me (he can wipe down my stove but scooping cat poop? THAT is where I draw the line! We aren't living together, you know!)

My point is that he gets the big things right. He takes care of me when I need him and respects my token bits of independence. He keeps my best interests in mind. He's literally the shoulder I can lean on.

And that's really worth a few pots.

Happy Love Thursday, everyone.