Terms of Endearment

No, this isn’t going to be a late for Valentine’s rumination. As you know after 20+ years of (add your own adjective) marriage couples learn how to communicate. Sometimes it is to goad or challenge. Sometimes it is to woo or make the mate laugh.

When I was a new teenager I spent a lot of time with my Aunt and Uncle. We lived overseas and when they were together my aunt would pour over magazines and drawings dreaming of retiring to their house in Maine. She would snip and file while my uncle would read. When he wanted her attention he would call her, Pigeon, or Pidge. It was so intimate and cute. I had never heard of anything like that before. Now my parents laughed and chatted as well but all I remember from my dim recesses is a shortened version of their regular names. And of course when they were referring to the other in front of my sister or myself it was always “YOUR Father,” or “YOUR Mother.”

My NSSP (Not So Silent Partner) and I don’t really have cute names for each other. I will call him by his Jewish name or a new nickname based on a character in a book I read. For me there is a shortened version of my name that was once a song (unfortunately as a male).But he does have a phrase that always melts my heart and spurs me onto cooking one more meal.

After commuting home from his upstairs office, NSSP wanders into the kitchen and sniffs. Looking at the converging of food and heat he boldly asks, “What’s for dinner?” I put on my happy face and recite the menu du jour.

He smiles and says,” That’s exactly what I was thinking of having for dinner.”’

And that dear friend is what marriage is all about. A bit of blarney and love served forth.