A few weeks ago, I was headed to pick Beezus up from school. There was a difference in schedules that day, so I was headed out to the high school a little earlier than normal. And as I stopped at a light not far from the school, a truck pulled up next to me.
I thought,
“Huh. That’s funny. That looks like The Dude’s truck.”
Being that I drive a car much lower than the truck, I couldn’t really see in the window. And, like always, my mind was filled on the next thing. Like my to-do list once I picked up my kids.
“Huh…funny. That guy’s arm looks like it could be The Dude.”
And then the truck’s window rolled down and I happened to look over into my husband’s smiling face.
I laughed. I hadn’t expected to see him. And so my mind ignored the possibility that it COULD be him.
Not that I shouldn’t be happy to see him, but this unexpected “running into each other at a stoplight” seeing him made me stupid happy. Like, my heart did that pitter-patter/flip-flop thing.
I rolled down my window, still laughing. And after some funny hello’s, I found myself blurting out,
“It’s my person!”
I don’t know why that stuck with me. And why it still sticks with my now. It makes my heart swell and it still makes me giggle. But there was something about that chance meeting at a stoplight that reminded me how much I love that he’s my person.
So much of this past year has been a near-constant reminder why he’s my partner in crime. We can both be such pains in the ass, but we are better because we have each other. We are a team. We are the balancing act that beats all.
We are beating the all the odds.
Someone told me yesterday that The Dude and I did everything right.
And I laughed right out loud.
Because for 16 years as of today, I’ve joked that we did everything backwards and wrong. Because our baby was at our wedding. Because we lived with my in-laws. Because we’ve barely made it through all the obstacles. Because life was so, so hard.
Because we’ve done nothing by the book and nothing by the rules. Okay, almost nothing.
But something that this year has shown me (again) is what a crock of shit those rulebooks often are. Because maybe you have to make your own rules and blaze your own trails because the path on the map doesn’t make any sense. Instead of being worried about our rough beginning, we can be so damn proud of our present and our future. And if someone pays us the compliment of doing everything right, say THANK YOU…and recognize how blessed we really are!
My life is insane and crazy and chaotic and, well, hard. But my life is also full and wonderful and fun and amazing. And sometimes it’s nice to be able to sit back and remember all that.
So who cares that maybe sitting at a stoplight was the best date we’ve had in a while.
Don’t tell my husband, but apparently it doesn’t take much to make me ridiculously happy.