10 Day Bachelor: 3 & 4 Days Down

I have to say that I am not really diggin' this whole bachelor thing. Sure, I have great opportunity to do some stuff around the house and I am doing that. Yesterday I cut some low-hanging branches from the big maple in the back yard so that my neighbor wouldn't whack his head as he rode his lawn mower past the tree. He didn't ask me to do it, I don't even know if it bothered him. But it would bug me so I did it...and felt good for it. Then later in the day/night I installed three-way switches in our basement so that Scarlett could turn the lights off when she sleeps down there with her friends (or when she has been bad and we lock her down there...KIDDING!!!) It took some work, but I got it done.

So why do I not like the bachelor thing? Well, today (rabbit trail: I was glad to go to work today because the weekend was SOOOO LOOOONG!!!!) I had lunch with a friend who understands the new bachelor thing all too well. At the beginning of this year he lost his wife to a long battle with cancer. But when I talk with him and listen to all that he is going through, I don't hear anything negative about how he's doing. Sure there is grief. There is definitely loneliness. But he has a Father who loves him dearly, and such a supportive group of friends and family, that the grief he feels is not heavy.

Again...why do I not like (temporary) bachelorhood? Well, at the end of lunch, he brought me back to work and before he left I gave him a hug and told him how well he was doing with this. And he told me (after chatting for a few more minutes) that these women that we've been given...our wives...deserve to be loved. They DESERVE IT!!!

My wife DESERVES to be loved. I tell her that I love her everyday because she deserves it. She isn't perfect. There have been times when I thought about giving up. But my friend told me at the end of our time together, "What good would we do them if we threw up our hands and said, 'I'm not going to deal with her and her stuff.' They deserve to have someone love them."

At present there is nothing that is making me think about giving up. Oh No!! In fact, my thoughts are about how I can make the very most of my time alone so that when she and Scarlett come home, she feels the love that she absolutely deserves from me. And how that will leave an impression on Scarlett that will make her realize that she also deserves it. I just can't wait to see them and love on them in the way that was granted me to do four-and-a-half years ago.



PS: Please forgive me if this post seems "flighty." It's almost 1am and my thoughts are all a-jumble.