David turned 42 yesterday. (eeks!) We had a family dinner for him, and a cake. David doesn't like sweets. He rarely eats cake or cookies. Occasionally, ice cream, so I got an ice cream cake. The girls insist on the cake and candle part. They divert his attention in another room while I light the candles. This year, as they were standing in Olivia's room, Molly couldn't contain herself, and told him I was doing in the kitchen. She was beside herself, in all her two year old cuteness, and just blurted it out.
We had a ham dinner, with green beans, and potatoes. David told me when we were dating, that was his favorite meal. I have made him this meal through the years, for birthday dinners, yet I am doubting that it actually is. He never asks for this meal. He never orders it, or craves it. I adore linguine with clam sauce, and I have perfected the recipe. I could eat it once a week. It is my favorite meal, and I make it as often as I can get away with it. Yet, this ham dinner, a detail I made a mental note of so many years ago, because I was falling in love with him, doesn't seem to really be his favorite. I have been with the man for almost 12 years, and I have seen him really be wowed by other dishes. Not so much with the ham.
When he came home, and I told him what we were having, he didn't seem overjoyed. I think I could have said a meatloaf, and he would have given the same reaction. As I was snapping the ends off the green beans, I thought that David probably remembered a meal that he had as a kid, and when we were dating, and exchanging all of our vital info with one another, he mentioned ham, green beans, and potatoes, as his favorite. This meal is now haunting him. And sweetly, he humors me, and never complains.
Because love is in the details. And you do things for the ones you love that they love. I knew I had met a truly wonderful man, during our first Christmas together. The first week of dating David, we had wondered through a store together, and I saw nesting dolls on a shelf. I have always loved nesting dolls, and wanted a set my whole life. I admired them, and we left the store together. By the time Christmas rolled around, 4 months after that fateful window shopping excursion, what do you think my Christmas gift was? You guessed it. The very nesting dolls that I casually pointed out on an August afternoon.
And that sealed my fate. And Davids. And sometimes, when David goes against my wishes, and spends money on me, for a present for Mothers Day, or my birthday, money that we can't afford to be frivolous with, I get a new nesting doll. I have a shelf of them now, and I adore them.
I am beginning to think David wished he had told me eggplant parmigiana, in those early days. Because love really is in the details, and watching him have his birthday dinner last night with a smile on his face, made that more clear to me than ever.
We had a ham dinner, with green beans, and potatoes. David told me when we were dating, that was his favorite meal. I have made him this meal through the years, for birthday dinners, yet I am doubting that it actually is. He never asks for this meal. He never orders it, or craves it. I adore linguine with clam sauce, and I have perfected the recipe. I could eat it once a week. It is my favorite meal, and I make it as often as I can get away with it. Yet, this ham dinner, a detail I made a mental note of so many years ago, because I was falling in love with him, doesn't seem to really be his favorite. I have been with the man for almost 12 years, and I have seen him really be wowed by other dishes. Not so much with the ham.
When he came home, and I told him what we were having, he didn't seem overjoyed. I think I could have said a meatloaf, and he would have given the same reaction. As I was snapping the ends off the green beans, I thought that David probably remembered a meal that he had as a kid, and when we were dating, and exchanging all of our vital info with one another, he mentioned ham, green beans, and potatoes, as his favorite. This meal is now haunting him. And sweetly, he humors me, and never complains.
Because love is in the details. And you do things for the ones you love that they love. I knew I had met a truly wonderful man, during our first Christmas together. The first week of dating David, we had wondered through a store together, and I saw nesting dolls on a shelf. I have always loved nesting dolls, and wanted a set my whole life. I admired them, and we left the store together. By the time Christmas rolled around, 4 months after that fateful window shopping excursion, what do you think my Christmas gift was? You guessed it. The very nesting dolls that I casually pointed out on an August afternoon.
And that sealed my fate. And Davids. And sometimes, when David goes against my wishes, and spends money on me, for a present for Mothers Day, or my birthday, money that we can't afford to be frivolous with, I get a new nesting doll. I have a shelf of them now, and I adore them.
I am beginning to think David wished he had told me eggplant parmigiana, in those early days. Because love really is in the details, and watching him have his birthday dinner last night with a smile on his face, made that more clear to me than ever.
Happy Birthday David.
ReplyDeleteLove is in the details. I don't remember what Pat's favorite dinner is - I always let him request his birthday dinner, since you know, Edie gets to request hers two days before. I do know however, that he hates casseroles and soup from a can. I know that he loves peach pie, lamb and seafood of any sort.