Toward the end of December of last year, a couple of mishaps occured to leave the year behind with minor dings.
My older son went on a ski trip and ended up with a fractured wrist on the last day of the trip.
On the way back from Big Bear ski trip, my wife's car slightly rear-ended the vehicle in the front driven by another person from the same church as my wife's car failed to stop on the snow covered downhill resulting with a minor dent.
Fortunately, the injury on my son wasn't really severe and ended up only having a cast on his arm from a local hospital when he came home.
As far as the accident was concerned, I had to get an estimate on how much it will cost to fix the damage and pay with cash since the damage was within the deductible amount on my insurance policy.
After these two incidents, I was unable to hide the uneasy feeling and it showed on my face. Being together for more than fifteen years, my wife can read every minute expression on my face and this time was not an exception. She didnt't say much and days had gone by past the new year.
Finally on the day before yesterday, she complained that I wasn't a man and a husband enough to soothe her to save her from the guilt trip she was going through. She sighed, almost sobbed and stopped talking.
Obviously, I felt sympathy and wanted to make up but couldn't choose the right word to say. Many words were dangling at the tip of my tongue and echoeing in my head but did not come out. Another day went by meaninglessly.
I spent some time spinning my pathetic little brain to come up with the right thing to do and came up empty.
When I was about to get off from the work last night, I had a call from my wife. She said she had something to say to me in a somber voice.
One thing came to my mind and asked her what happened, directly followed by the question, "Did you have a car accident?"
To my anticipation, she said, "Yes!"
Brutal, I thought but could not say it.
At this moment, I had think fast to come up with adequate selection of words. "Are you okay? I'll be home right away."
On the way, I made a brief stop at a supermarket and bought a bunch of flowers and gave it to my wife saying, "Please forget about what happened. It is perfectly okay. As long as you are not hurt, everything will be all right."
I gave a little kiss on the cheek and showed a grin on my face.
Another small financial loss will occur on top of previous two incidents, but I can live with it as long as she feels better and get out of the grave feeling.
All in all, it turned out that my method worked and once again brought life to my household.
A bunch of flowers very effectively replaced a thousand words to bring smile back to her face and that's all it counts.
Have you given your companion or friend some pretty flowers lately?