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SALT LAKE CITY — Recently, I recalled an early powerful learning lesson in our marriage over … corn.
We were hosting our annual big Fourth of July barbecue at our home. Having forgotten to pick up corn on the cob beforehand, I asked my husband to do it on his way home from work.
As he got closer to home, he changed the plan to return home and shower first, then go back out and get the corn. Because I didn't know what time the corn stands packed up for the night, I began to feel the beginnings of I-must-have-corn-for-our-party anxiety.
Thankfully, as good women we can remember to relax and let go of the seemingly all-important items of the moment, even the vital summer corn.
No corn? Heaven forbid.
When he returned, we went back out together to find the corn (not that I was supervising or anything), and as we got closer to the nearest city I saw the first stand completely empty. As in, no person, no cart, no corn. Crestfallen, I thought, What?There's not going to be corn on the cob? I then reassured myself, We really don't need it, it's all right, I should have remembered it at the store. I felt my heart thump, my blood pressure rise, and pretty much my whole world suddenly collapse because of the absence of corn.
My hubby said, “No worries, we will find the corn!" and proceeded forward like John Smith in exploration.
That's when it hit me — why am I being so ridiculous about corn on the cob? Why was I making such a deal about this, making my husband feel like a failure and giving myself hives simply over a starchy vegetable?
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Falling in love is actually a lot of work, more than it is any kind of falling. When we are first in love, we work hard at enjoying every minute of it.So I turned to my hubby, apologized, and said as much. He smiled, said no big deal, and right then we saw a corn stand teeming with corn as well as other goodies. And I had barely shouted out, "Oh yummy! Raspberries!” before my husband had bought and brought them over to the car for me to taste-test.
I have learned from other women that I am not alone in this occasional wig out over something small, including, but not limited to, a husband’s forgetting of a family function, a delay in building a fence, or fixing a garage door.
Thankfully, as good women we can remember to relax and let go of the seemingly all-important items of the moment, even the vital summer corn. Connie Sokol is an author, presenter, TV contributor and mother of seven. Contact her at www.conniesokol.com.
