“Love makes you do crazy things, insane things, can't help it…”
This wasn’t how I pictured it. Lying on the bathroom floor
in my underpants as winter shook his angry fist outside. I was sweaty and confused,
clutching an overheated hairdryer and I hadn’t slept in 30 hours.
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I saw her picture online, and I wanted her. I stalked her.
Waited outside her door for hours. I watched as others came and left, hungry
for what would be mine. I finally
left my perch when the neighbors started to ask questions, but not before I
slipped a note to her, careful so that no one else would see.
There was something about her. She wasn’t as tall as the
ones I’d usually go for, nor as glamorous. And, she was very (how to put this
delicately?) old. But it was love. I knew it, because I’d never felt anything
like it before—and there had been many, many others.
This was it, and when I’m ready to commit, I’m ready. And so
it was that six-weeks later, she was all mine. The first months were pure
honeymoon—intimate dinners, candlelight, and long bubble baths. It was dreamy,
and I loved her more and more each day.
But then, the weather changed, and so did she. All that was
warm and good and right was GONE. Poof! Like that. One day, we were enjoying
some reads in the tub, and then, the next morning, at 5 a.m. –when Premal had
to leave for work – she turned off the tap—the hot water tap.
But in all seriousness, love is not easy. Be the object of
your affection grown or infant, animate or . . . not, there are times when you
have to remember why you got into this mess in the first place, and then, armed
with that knowledge, work yourself out of it. That’s where I found myself last
week when our pipes froze over. It was awful. I was a wreck. And, for a while,
I rued the day we decided to become homeowners. But with luck and tenacity, we worked through
it.
So, on this St. Valentine's week, remember the things that make this crazy thing we call love worth it. Remember the feelings, and drive, and safety that make love feel like home.
Happy Valentine's Day Y'all!
