Mutual Respect

Melvin and I took great care of one another. He, being retired, took care of our home and the needs of my mother while I worked. Monday through Friday he cooked all the meals and cleaned the house and boy could he clean. If I happened to come home in the middle of the day, he would have the music and televisions on, doors and windows open, if it was a nice day, and the aroma of  bleach, pine sol  and any other cleaning agent would choke you. He would clean floors walls anything with a speck.
Once when my mother had to stay with us for a few days she said, "Melvin's meals don't match, but they're so good." That day for breakfast he fed her chicken wings, grits a half of a baked potato and toast, he gave you toast with every meal. I loved his meals,#1 because I didn't have to prepare them and # 2, he enjoyed
it and prepared the meals with love. I strongly believe that ones palate can not resist the taste of food prepared with love. If you want to make your loved one happy take the time to prepare a meal their taste buds will never forget. Do it all in your mind first, step by step, use only the best ingredients, then watch what happens.
Melvin never washed dishes. His sisters would not allow it, they said he half cleaned them, so, alone he had a dishwasher with me, he left a mess, a mess I never minded reaping.
While Melvin was the weekday chef and aesthetic purveyor, I had my chores as well. He was particular about his clothes so I laundered and steam cleaned his fine pieces. I washed and folded all clothes and kept our drawers and closets neatly organized.
I was his barber. Every time he would sit in the chair, for his hair cut, I would engage him in banter, "How's your wife and them boys?" and he would follow right along. Having taken cosmetology in high school I also manicured his and the boys nails.
We would eat out on Saturdays, but on Sundays, only my meals would do and though we live in a society where a woman's Independence is celebrated, Melvin was the head of our household. He would give me a lot of rope, and I knew how far to go. We strived to  honor Ephesians 5:21-33. On the days he perplexed my very fiber, I read or recalled Proverbs 31:10-31. And on the days I was full of myself he would grab and hold me until we both fell out laughing.
Love is a wonderful emotion of sacrifice, patience, submitting, relenting, engaging and staging, holding on and letting go, growing closer and anticipating the others thoughts, need or gesture. True love with mutual respect resembles the flight of birds in information connected by the translucent chords of unconditional devotion.


Tomorrow