My previous efforts to communicate what brand was on sale, which items took the coupons attached, and additional details I’d tried describing over the last few years had finally run their course. Frankly, I was tired explaining, and if the item described in the weekly ad and duplicated on my list was not the first thing My Rogue located on the grocer’s shelf, then my efforts were for naught anyway. Still, his willingness to run to the store was a big help.
This year, the rules had changed. I sent My Rogue with a list of only a few things; I was learning to keep the bags light and the list simple. My Rogue was reading and driving again – both very good signs within eight months of having survived a stroke and major heart surgery. Each day’s small outing held a task that once completed now seemed truly momentous! God was watching over us and answering our prayers and needs daily.
That morning, I quickly scrawled a number of fresh veggies and fruits on a new list and sent him off; My Rogue was eager to please and thankful for his renewed sense of independence. I had begun to relax a bit again, enjoying a few moments of uninterrupted quiet during the day. Even my unemployment was an answer to prayer; I was home when My Rogue needed me most. As tough as it had been, we still had our lighter moments. My cell phone rang a short while later; it was My Rogue:
Honey, what are kooks?
I was truly at a loss; perhaps I didn’t hear him correctly.
Sweetheart, what are you talking about?
It’s on your list. I’ve asked one of the guys standing here and he doesn’t know what you mean either…
Sweetheart, spell the word for me.
C – U – K – E – S.
There comes a time in every marriage when the wife begins to believe she has finally straddled all the hurdles over the assumptions, expectations, and different communication styles; that the many hours of partnering have finally honed one, carefully crafted, common vocabulary that is theirs and theirs alone.
Hold that thought.