For years, I've watched other couples refinish their bathrooms, add a deck onto their homes, rewire lights in their kitchens. And I've lamented that those things are not true of our household. When we have a problem with the plumbing, we join message boards and try to familiarize ourselves with new terminology like backwater valve and refill tube. Once, Graham tried to fix a leaky toilet by installing a new toilet kit. Six hours later, we put a bucket under the commode and called a plumber. The first time we lost heat in our home in Orange, I was sure it was a furnace problem, until our pastor came over, measured the oil in the tank, and pronounced it empty. This stuff is just not intuitive for us.
But then, a few days ago, our computer wouldn't start. A gray screen appeared with the infamous apple icon, and then went black. Without warning, our computer had crashed and I had no back-up for my documents and pictures. But instead of freaking out by this internal operating error, my husband calmly went to Best Buy and bought an external hard drive, then proceeded to transfer our entire operating system onto the drive, "clean" the existing computer, and reinstall all the apps and programs. Wait. What? You see, all the years that I had been slightly embittered over a husband that couldn't build me a kitchen table were years that I forgot to recognize the amazing gifts and talents that he does possess.
This man that I've been married to for a decade this January 1st works hard and provides, loves our kids well, does incredibly kind things for me, and evidently is a computer genius in his spare time.
So, the next time I read a post on Instagram announcing that a friend's husband built her a bench out of 150-year-old salvaged barn wood to go in their front entryway, I'll remember that mine fixed a crashed computer that held our most precious memories, and we'll call it even.
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