My Husband. My Hero!

How appropriate that I have a great reason to rave about my dear hubby... it's our 15th anniversary! Last night he rode in on a white horse and saved the day.

I had the kiddos with me on my weekly trip into the office (70 miles away) so they could visit their grandmother for the day while I worked. Election day, so C did not have school. Bonus! We were on the way home, and the battery light went on just as we started back. I called him and told him. He cursed and predicted that it was the alternator. I boogied toward home as fast as legally possible, watching that battery level needle slowly drop. (Well, OK, maybe a little faster than legally allowed...) We were about 20 minutes from home when I had to slow down to go through the turnpike gates. That was that. All my gauges quit and I was done. I made it to the side of the road and called him.

About 30 minutes later he came in his mom's Jeep (his pick up won't hold all 4 of us, and the bed was full of mulch). He popped the hood, pulled out the alternator and we all went to the nearest auto supply store (where the girls all gratefully peed... little plug - it was an A&A and their bathroom was amazingly clean!) and got a new one. (It's now 8pm, and the sun is setting.)

We go back to the edge of the turnpike where my poor Blazer is sitting, and while I do the oh-so-important job of holding the flashlight, he puts the new alternator in place, then proceeds to fight with the belt for at least 30 minutes. It finally slips into place. (He must have gotten the curse word combo just right.) It started without needing a jump!

When I met him, we were in college. I never really knew the 'car guy' side of him, and until the Maverick Restoration Project, it didn't come up. I'd had no idea that he could do this sort of thing. Of course, these days, there are so many things on vehicles that you simply can't fix without a diagnostic computer... but on the other hand, there are many out there that can't fix the things that are fixable.

So here's to the guy who has been a wonderful husband for the past 15 years - the guy who makes sure dinner is ready when I drag in the door from my once a week trip - the guy who still does the laundry (a hold over from our apartment days when he didn't want me in the laundry room alone) - the guy who changed diapers - the guy who fixes all that breaks in the house and makes his own molding - the guy who landscapes and builds a wooden swing set for his girls - the guy who was ready to go beat up my co-worker when he was giving me grief - the guy who at 40 is still up to twice in one night - still holds my hand when we are out - still makes my heart skip when I see him...