A matched set

Hey, JOY Journal friends! Squeezing in one last 2018 re-post on love before the Valentine decor is tucked away for the year. Blessings!

“Happily ever after is not a fairy tale. It’s a choice.” Fawn Weaver, American author, “Happy Wives Club”

You know how when you’re first dating, practically anything he does makes you smile. The way he says your name, the way he sips his coffee, the way he sneezes.

And, then, there’s that undefinable moment — sometimes not long after all that smiling leads to a marriage — when the very same things begin to irritate you. Sometimes he says your name in a “bad dog” kind of way. There’s an occasional slurp. That sneeze is pretty loud, isn’t it? But, you love each other — and you have kids and a house and the same last name. So, you cope.

Here’s the odd thing. Stretch that same coupling out — say until you’re within shooting distance of a silver anniversary — and there’s another change. Most everything gets cute again. That’s the only explanation I have for the fact my husband and I are in agreement on his solution to our hubcap problem.

Let me explain: A few years ago, when his car was newish, someone stole two hubcaps off of it while we slept. Why two and not all four, I have no idea, but that is what happened. My husband, thrifty guy that he is, located two used ones on the internet to replace them. Problem solved. For a while.

A couple years later, the right rear hub cap simply fell off. This time, he decided to let it go. A few people at work suggested he take all the caps off and paint the wheels black. Our daughters suggested he not drive that car to pick them up from school events. I … coped. Love this guy, remember?

Then, a couple of weeks ago, the front left hubcap fell off. His car would have looked remarkably at home on cinder blocks, which spurred him into action. Of a sort. I drove home a day or two later and noticed that he suddenly had two hubcaps on the left side of the car. Hmmm. That was fast, I thought.

It turned out what he had done was move both surviving hubcaps to street side because he had “a plan,” one which wasn’t revealed until this week. Rather than purchase pricey replacements, he had managed to find two rather shiny bargain hubcaps that “fit.” Those caps, whose sheen was nearly matched when he washed and waxed the car, are now on the right side. Picture it: A matched set of dealer hubcaps on the left side of the car; a matched set of something else on the right side.

“Unless someone is running around from one side of the car to the other, they won’t notice,” he said. Obviously sensing an imminent eye roll, he went on to say something about, “studies show the human concept of beauty is much about symmetry and it’s symmetrical, at least on one side.”

I just smiled. Like I said, the whole hubcap thing is actually a pretty cute idea, just like my husband. It turns out a matched set really is a matched set.