Wild Horses Couldn't Stop Me...

From crying into my tissues at the end of Nights in Rodanthe, the movie that Jeff & I saw this evening.

WARNING: Spoilers to follow: Actually, spoilers precede this, in the title, but you really can't possibly have a clue about that unless you've already seen the movie, so what am I blathering on about now...?

Ah, yes, movie night with my husband. Jeff loves to do these remarkably considerate things for me, often as a surprise. Sometimes these surprises are big (i.e. my fabulous Mother's Day earrings), and sometimes they are small (i.e. his quiet purchase of Nights in Rodanthe tickets instead of our decided upon compromise movie tonight), but he is always thoughtful in his approach.

Jeff is, however, a man who believes in balance. Not in that Yoga-Karma way, but he is a passionate supporter of balance in the more important things in life, like ice-cream vs. toppings in your dessert. You may think I am joking, but when is the last time that you had dessert with my husband?

With Jeff's thoughtful surprises always come his diversions, this version of balance. Tonight at the movies, his diversion tactic was a combination of having overeaten on Corned Beef at Harold's (don't ask, I accidentally purchased too many of the WDHA dining deal certificates) and his subconscious desire to avoid the "chick" part of the "flick".

Here's an example: Halfway through the first are-we-going-to-live-or-die-oh-to-hell-with-it-let's-rip-eachother's-clothes-off love scene, he took my hand gently, then leaned in close and...burped quietly into my ear. Then, during their separation, as she walked back onto the beach, he started quessing at the twist. "OK, now is the perfect time for her to get eaten by a shark", and "Watch...now, he'll get into a terrible car accident and die".

Thing is, after nine years of marriage, we have absorbed enough of eachother's essence that I actually do find some of this commentary pretty funny. I can appreciate his Mike Myers / Adam Sandler humor, and he can understand more of my sentimentality.

Even with all of that typical guy posturing, the ending got to him also. He wasn't looking for a tissue like I was, but he paid enough attention to it to share serious discussion on the ride home.

"We all want to believe in the Wild Horses as a sign," he said, "and that part of the movie got to everyone, because everyone wants to make sense of their life experience and know that it has meaning. The idea that he is OK and sent the horses as a sign to her, this is something everyone in this audience would love to believe in."

So it seems that after 9 years of marriage I can tolerate the chick-flick heckling, and he can glean philosophical or spiritual discussion topics out of the experience. And at the end of the night there is still no other guy I'd like to hold hands with.

A pretty good deal if you can get it...

Till next time,

- Jen