We’ve been married almost a decade, and I thought I knew everything there was to know. I certainly didn’t anticipate any secrets. Yeah, we’ve been through a lot of changes over the years, but nothing quite like the last nine months or so. Our lives have been altered drastically this year alone, and I found myself trying to make my way through the midst of one of those shifting sand situations right at the exact moment my husband sent me a text I wasn’t expecting.
Ok, let me rewind a minute and get this just right. Friday morning, I guess it was, I was driving down the dark highway on my way to work. I chugged coffee from an insulated thermos, hoping it would provide the fuel I needed to make it through the day. See, the prior day had been what you might call a challenge. No, let’s be honest. It was hard. It had been a bad day at work. It had been one of those exhausting, uncontrollable days you often have when you work hands-on in healthcare. After a day like that, it’s hard to go back and do it again. So I found I was trying to encourage myself about it, and naturally, I was praying too.
As I thought about how challenging my previous shift had proven itself, I also began to think about my life surrounding it. As a Travel Nurse in my first week at a new assignment, I was still learning a new, computer charting system, but also learning where they kept the saline flushes. In the middle of all that I remembered feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket, and when I finally found the time for a lunch break I had retrieved a text within. It was from my husband who traveled on assignments with me, and kept busy homeschooling our children, among other things.
It read, “I️ just want you to know I️ love you so much. And I️ don’t say it much but I️ very much appreciate what you do for our family. Hope your day goes well and can’t wait to see you tonight. No response needed I️ know you’re busy, but you are loved and appreciated. 😘😘”
In the middle of me running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and trying not to appear like a chicken with my head cut off, he had sent this message.