Possum Shopping

Today was highly amusing for me. It isn't often that my husband and I get to take a day to just go enjoy each other's company. We drove into town this afternoon to have lunch and do some window shopping...at least, that's what I thought we were doing until I realized that my husband had ulterior motives.
To know why I was/am so amused, you first have to understand my husband. I have loved this man for going on 20 years. I have always thought that God gave him too much testosterone. His mission in life is to provide and protect. He may as well have those two words tattooed on his forehead. He is all about God, Family and Country.
To give you a clearer picture, this is a man who takes great pride in his work. He can build anything and wants it done right the first time. When he hunts, he refuses to sit in a tree stand, preferring to stalk and track his prey. I have had two stalkers in the past 20 years (This was ten years ago). My husband followed one of them home one day after catching him driving slowly past our house. He walked right into that man's house and....let's just say that man stopped stalking me after that day. He's an all around country boy and a man of few words unless he's railing against the injustice that is happening in the world today. I do understand why he gets so upset with the state of our country right now. If something interferes with his instinct to provide for and protect his family, it sets him on edge. I love him for it.
I, on the other hand, am goofy, soft hearted and an animal lover. This past summer we had more than our fair share of unwanted kitties dumped on our property, usually in the middle of the night. There for a while, I would wake up to a new hungry, scared and confused fur baby every morning. At one point, we were up to 13 and my husband would go on and on about how I needed to find them homes. I found those homes as fast as I could but I wasn't going to let them go hungry in the meantime, though my husband complained constantly.
A Lavender Pointe Siamese (according to the vet) female was dumped at our house and she was pregnant....I heard about that for five weeks but since I am fully aware that other than his Mother, I am the only person he has ever backed down for, I just let him cuss under his breath and ignored it because I knew that placing Siamese babies would be a snap. She had five kittens and once they were weaned and wormed, I put them up for adoption and just like I thought, they found homes very quickly. Finally we were down to the last kitten, a little boy and I took his picture and told my husband that I was going to put the baby online the next day. The man had a melt down! It was like watching a two year old. He actually yelled at me, "You're not getting rid of my Possum!" At first, I wasn't sure who he was talking about because there were more kitties outside but then he put 'his' Siamese kitten in our bed and told me that this is his kitten and he had named him Possum.
I don't think 'shock' is a strong enough word. My hunny has never taken to a cat before. This cat, however, now has a special place in our bed, he has to eat special food (for no other reason than my husband wants him too) and what was supposed to be window shopping, lunch and time together today turned into Possum shopping. Again. This is the third time this month!
This kitten gets excited when Daddy comes home. He runs to him and puts his paws up to be held and my husband lights up to be welcomed home that way....apparently, I am now chopped liver. Today our afternoon together turned into a mission to buy Possum the perfect scratching post and a Christmas stocking. I still can't believe this big, strong, man shops for this kitten like it's his child. It cracks me up because it's something I would do. I must be rubbing off on the man. Anyway, after three stores, we finally found the right scratching post but we couldn't find a stocking that is just the right size. Fortunately, my husband did find two tinkle balls that Possum 'just has to have', another round, plastic toy that has a tinkle ball permanently stuck inside so the poor cat can make himself crazy by NEVER getting it out, a bag of 'special treats' and more of his special food. I had to run to the furniture section of the store in a hurry to laugh behind my husband's back when he began digging through the pet sweaters, trying to find Possum's size. Luckily for Possum, they didn't carry his size.
The point to my telling you about our day is this....it's the little things that make a life. It's the smallest things that bring a person joy. Sure, there are those big moments that make our hearts swell and bring tears to our eyes but those things don't come everyday. What do are the small things; a beautiful sunrise, an afternoon with a loved one, a good meal and the love between a big, strong, man and his kitten.
Chronic illness brings stress. Add to that financial stress, work stress and family stress and it can all combine to rob you of your joy - if you let it. Today I could have said, "No. I hurt like crazy. I don't want to go to one more store." and my husband would have taken me home without question. Rather than do that, I took in my husband's devious grin and allowed myself to enjoy the moment of joy I had been given. Even on my worst day of pain, I can find something to make me smile. I believe that even with chronic pain, we were put here to do more than just survive this life. I look for those moments of joy, those moments when I snort through my nose, trying to hold in the laughter while I run to the furniture department to keep from laughing AT (not with) my husband.
Be aware of the moments that make you smile through out the day and before you go to bed at night, add them up. The more you focus on what is right in your life, the less intimidating all of those other stresses seem to be. They shrink in the face of joy so keep your eyes open for it and you'll notice, they happen more often than you realized.

                                                                           Possum