How A Heart Is Mended With A Kiss

There's a back story to this post. When I first met Pooky I knew he was The Pooky I Wanted To Spend The Rest of My Life With. So I told him that I wasn't like most girls (I am a Shrone) and being a Shrone I didn't want the standard ring and marriage proposal. No, I required something much more meaningful because after all, I'm unique just like everybody else and by golly I wanted him to explore the depths of my soul and find out what magical marriage proposal he could create that would truly capture his understanding of who I am (as a Shrone, of course).

Three years went by. I dropped hints along the way that might point him in the right direction. He rebuffed my hints saying I would expect that and he wanted to surprise me. The more I tried, the more he resisted, the more furious I began to seethe inside. Time was running out. I wanted to marry on Leap Day 2004, and if we missed that date we'd have to wait another four years.

It was a chaotic time. Our original marriage plans crumbled before us as both of our families had no interest in being part of our nuptials. Financial concerns were an issue as well. How could we realize some of our wedding dreams without going broke? As Leap Day got closer time was of the essence and we rushed to carry out a watery version of the ceremony we had envisioned. Pooky slipped under the radar without a marriage proposal.

I resented him for that. He had three years to work on it!

Fast forward now to tonight. I was emptying out my ostomy bag before going to bed. I thought of how Pooky has been my unsung hero this past month. He's been stalwart at my side going to work at night, coming to see me in the hospital during the day, tending to all 5 felines and for much of that time bottle feeding the kittens to picture perfect health, doing the laundry, keeping the kitchen mostly clean and ant free, not killing the fish (though their tanks are in need of a good cleaning), sometimes watering the flowers, mowing the lawn when it hasn't rained, answered all of my e-mail regarding the wedding officiant business, took care of "business" regarding school for me, paid the bills on time, and didn't turn any of the whites pink or unusual colors in the laundry, bought food, made food, got me food when I craved it while in the hospital, slayed dragons, battled demons and slimey sea serpents...OK, you get the picture. He was UNFAILING in his duty as protector of the realm. A true KISA (knight in shining armor). And last but not least, he even managed to knit himself a pair of socks during all of this!

I truly think he is like the god Krishna with multiple arms, or at least the ability to be in two places at once.

So back to my emptying out my ostomy thinking just how AWESOME Pooky has been and what kind of wonderful Pooky he is. See, during my evil spells of vomitting up food, Pooky would be there, racing for the basin and then get me a tissue or towel to clean up my face. He'd patiently wait until everything came out and then he'd take the basin away and tend to it. You know someone really loves you when later on when it is time to leave and say good-night they still want to kiss you—the same mouth that just had a few hours earlier spewed god-only-knows-what. That is Love no matter how you look at it. And it says to me that Pooky really does know the depth of my soul.

That there are no words that could be spoken, only a kiss that could be given that says, "No matter what, I'll always want to kiss you good-night."

John, You'll Always Be My Pooky
kiss, kiss