littlemonuments:

David has spent the past few evenings hunting for a bike on craigslist so that I can accompany him on cycling trips through Berkeley and Oakland.  

He is now sitting cheerfully in the kitchen with the old, wretchedly dirty bicycle frame we purchased this evening (for a steal), which has been deemed, in his discerning gaze, an excellent candidate for our needs. He is carefully taking apart the gears, cleaning, fixing and reassembling to make sure that the tiniest aspects of the bike’s performance are up to his standards. The bike is rusted, but he has armed himself with a firm bristled brush and some sort of bike cleaning solvent, and has ferociously attacked the grit. Before addressing the rust, David spent the last half hour digging out the spider egg sacs (!) that he found embedded underneath the seat. I took a glance at them before he flushed his findings down the toilet. The sacs were floating on the water’s surface, white, cottony, squeamish yet compelling testaments to the fact that David’s love is never just words, but something that manifests in various costly actions.  

He is going to change the tires for me, create new gear shifts, fit new brakes, install handlebars and a new seat so that I can be outfitted for merry jaunts around town. These are his last few days before school starts and he has to resume teaching and grading papers, so I feel a little sheepish that he is spending his evenings doing such slow, careful labor for me.

He just came into the living room to show me a gear that he has finally cleansed of all rust and spider remnants, smiling at me and telling me that I will have a beautiful bike. When I hugged and thanked him for building me a bicycle, he brushed it off. “You’re my baby,” he said, which is usually his only explanation for his sweet, laborious gestures.

All of this is just to say that I married a good man, and sometimes I like to write down the small, everyday instances which serve as regular reminders of the fact.

Ugh, I love you both! <3