Still No Pony

A few years back, I wrote about how disappointed my wife would be because, once again, I failed to deliver the horse she had secretly been wishing for all those years. As our life together has progressed from the flurry of excitement that is the beginning of every relationship to the quiet comfort of familiarity, I continue to search for those moments when I surprise her. Sometimes it's a silly face or a joke she hasn't heard in a seemingly endless loop. Sometimes it's a sudden willingness to try a fruit or vegetable that had previously been resigned to the "icky" file. Or maybe a story from the distant past that has managed to stay buried for seventeen years. But after living together for nearly two decades, and knowing one another for ten years before that, there's just not that many surprises left.
That's why it's especially sweet when they still occur. That's why some of the most arbitrary things can become secrets. "You like Jan more than Marcia? How can that be?" It's a middle kid thing, I guess. There are still some Bruce Springsteen lyrics that I have not committed to memory. Sometimes I just mumble through particularly wordy sections to shout along with the chorus. Admitting any of these in a public forum such as this might come as quite a shock as well.
Most of all, I continue to look for opportunities to add a little spark, and that may be the biggest surprise of all. The Old Spice guy is my motivation. I want to give her tickets to that thing she loves. And most of all, I would love to show up on a horse.