“When Judy’s in trouble,
I am not slow,
It’s hip, hip, hip
And I away I go”
From the cartoon Under Dog (with a slight twist)
The other night at work, all of us were talking about the women in our lives. While listening to the younger men who were either just engaged or newlyweds on how it is with their perspective significant others, I was amazed on what was being said.
“My wife fixes my dinner and waits on me hand and foot,” one said.
Then another one chimed in with - “That’s nothing. My word is rule in my house. If I want something now, I get it now”
Still another one threw his comment into the mix with – “I come home to a spotless home and sex when ever I want it”
I thought they’re either married young women who were born without a spine, or they’re lying through their teeth. I suspect it’s the latter. I can’t imagine a modern woman being this spineless.
With the older men who have been married for ten years or more, it was a different story. Most of them were trying to remember what sex was like and trying to figure out what happened to their money that they brought home. They still loved their mates, but now it seems that the only purpose for being married was for companionship. I also suspect that most of this was for the lack of comic relief, but there might have been some ring of truth to that.
I was quiet for most of the part, just listening to the banter that was going around, when I was asked who does the cooking in my house.
“I do.”
“Who does the cleaning?”
“It’s sort of like a tag team thing”
“Laundry?”
“Me.”
“Let’s see, you do the cooking, you do the cleaning, you do the laundry? Boy does she have you trained.”
“Sounds more like henpecked to me.”
My reply –“I’m not henpecked, just devoted.”
“Devoted? Is that what henpecked is now called?”
Laughter filled the room, with a slight grin to my face.
I then told the men I work with the saga of Jim and Judy Fulton.
“I have not been in the best of health. In the twelve years we have been together, I have had five hospitals stays. All throughout those ordeals, Judy has been by my side. The stay two years ago really tested our love, for it was then that I had to rely on God for the very next heart beat.”
I continued. “I have a love for trains, most of you know that. How many of you here can say that your wives actually show an interest in what interest you? Our first Christmas together, she got me a layout of the scale that I model in. How many of you can say that your wife is actually interested in your career? I was working as a mechanic for a dealership. I had been eyeing a rollaway and thinking it was out of our budget. I told her I would like to have it, but knew it would probably break our bank. Unbeknownst to me at the time, she had wanted to get me a rollaway for Christmas. She asked me to describe the one that I saw and she went back to the store and got it for me.”
The room was quiet as I continued. I wasn’t trying to one up them, I was just telling them how it was with my wife and I.
“Two years ago, she saved us from losing the house. When we moved to Moreno Valley, we had agreed to let me bring home the bacon. She would stay home and take care of the house. That plan almost ruined us. She was forced to go back to the place she didn’t want to go, back to work for the state.”
“She has always been there for me and I hope she always will. This is why I do the cooking, clean up the house the best I can, do the laundry, to show her that I will always be here for her. Like I said before, I’m not henpecked, just devoted.”
I then concluded by saying – “I will always be devoted to her for these simple reasons ‘charm is deceitful, beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised.’ And ‘for this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife”
The room was quiet now. I looked around to those there and saw a knowing expression on the older gentlemen faces and a bewilder look on the younger men. Then someone said – “Still sounds like henpecked to me.”
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What a beautiful picture. How many of us think about the sacrifices Jesus makes for us...I wonder if anyone thinks the Groom of the Church is "henpecked"? :-)
Loved your story.
Brother Jim,
Simply wonderful, this was a joy to read. The truth of love and devotion in marriage was so clear in what you wrote. Thanks! - Jay Cookingham
