I Was Tempted, So I Did

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Two months ago, I tripped over a cord in plain sight and broke my toe.  I like to think I am a careful watchful person that can see where I am going.  But, alas when it comes to telephone cords, which appear invisible to the naked eye, life can become endangered.  I’d gotten entangled in said cord as I walked across the living room.  Evidently, it was lying directly in my path.  When I tripped I fell into a folding chair, which ultimately tipped over and caught me in the ribs on my final descent.

I remember thinking, “I’ll sue!!!”  But who would I sue, myself?  I was able to get up, but I was tempted to kick the chair, so I kicked it hard: consequently the broken toe.  The emergency room x-ray confirmed my suspicions.  After returning home, three hours later I was afraid someone else would also trip on the cord, so I asked my husband, David if he’d tape the cord to the floor to prevent other mishaps.  This made me feel better but my toe was still broken.

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Our cat, Prissy is also suspiciously invisible.  I’m certain she lays in my path on purpose just to goad me into a fall.  I have very cleverly avoided her little scheme so far.  I try to be very careful, but someday I’m afraid she will be the cause of my downfall.  Worse yet is the thought of what might happen if I fall on her.  I pity the day my heavy body lands on her.

Prissy playfully hides her toys in the throw rugs; and a while back I stepped on her catnip mouse in one of those rugs, which hurt my stocking clad foot.  I was carrying a heavy bag of garbage on my way to the side door.  I stopped, picked up the mouse, and put it in my pocket.  I thought I would tease the cat with it later and have a little fun.  After I disposed of the garbage, I promptly forgot about the cat’s toy.

That night Prissy had her own agenda while prowling through the house in search of… anything!  The catnip scent coming from my pants pocket must have overwhelmed her sense of ownership, which evidently enraged her because she set up the loudest protesting meow’s imaginable coming from a cat. 

Everyone in the household jumped out of bed at the same moment.  Of course, by the time the kids had reached our bedroom door, the cat was nowhere in sight.  We went back to bed, and not ten minutes later we heard her loud yowl’s piercing the darkness, again.

“Where is that darn cat?” my husband cried.  “I am going to teach her a thing or two when I get my hands on her.”

Before my husband and I could get back to sleep we heard Prissy purring very loudly.  We bolted upright in bed, hoping to catch her this time.  I flicked on my bedside lamp and glimpsed Prissy pawing through my pants, which had fallen off the chair.  We laughed at her antics and wondered what she thought she was doing.  That is when I recalled the mouse.

Suddenly she jumped on our bed, nipped lightly at my arm, and darted off again gathering her mouse in haste.  She ran out the door and down the stairs, presumably to resume her prowl.

Come morning I found her curled up in her bed beside her beloved mouse.  She was sleeping, dead to the world.  I was tempted to blow a blast horn, to mimic her consideration for our sleeping family the night before.  I didn’t have a blast horn, but I managed to find a whistle, which worked nicely.  She jumped straight up off her bed, which sent peals of laughter through my 13 year old son and me as we observed her surprise.

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Our dog Timistry, long for Tim, is well-mannered and moves out of our way when we walk toward him through the house.  He’s never been the cause of a physical fall to any of our family, but because of his behavior, one day, I did fall from his good graces.

We were having a cold wet spring, and Tim was having a time making up his mind where he wanted to be: inside or out.  I was tempted to shut him outside at his next beg.  So, within the next couple of minutes, sure enough he came over and started whining at the back door.  I gladly put him out with sufficient explanation and warning.

Now the enclosed porch on the back of our house has a linoleum floor and a long rug down one side, running from door to door as a catch-all for dirt.  A pet door had been installed in the base of the outer door, which keeps our pets warm and dry during foul weather.  I don’t like to leave them inside when we leave the house.

This particular day the rain began falling, while Tim had to stay outside.  I had forgotten to unlock the pet door.  Poor Tim began to whine and bark occasionally; I ignored him the best I could, thinking he was snug and dry on the porch.  By the time I’d discovered my mistake, he was shivering something fierce.  I felt bad because I’d been so hard on him.  Of course, I didn’t do it on purpose, but trying to convince him of that was impossible.  For five days thereafter, every time I went near him, he bared his teeth and let out a low growl to warn me that I was not his favorite person.

My guilt got the better of me and I started baking for him, so much so that my family thought I had gone bonkers.  I guess I had, somewhat; he made me feel like a failure in the responsibility department.  I bought liver to cut into strips and dry in a heated oven for treats; plus I found a recipe for ‘Healthy Homemade Dog Treats’ on the Internet, which I’d busied myself making.  If he didn’t like me after all this special treatment, I couldn’t imagine what would win him over.  But as it turned out he did warm up to me again.

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Our daughter, Sierra had a pet turtle we’d rescued along the highway one fortunate day for the turtle.  She wrangled for days, giving her pet the right name.  Its name became Alli-short for alligator.  We bought an old used livestock water tank, which we planned to sink in the back yard for a flower garden.  David had not gotten around to sinking it yet this spring, so Sierra used it for her turtle upon my suggestion.

One day while the kids and I were shopping David decided to surprise me and sink the tank into the ground.  I don’t know what went through his mind when he discovered Alli in the tank; we never mentioned anything to him about a pet turtle.  All I know is when we got home several hours later and discovered his surprise, panic struck me.

All's well that ends well, the saying goes.  It didn’t look like this one was going to end well.  I was tempted, even though I knew better, to dig to the bottom of this tank in search of Alli.  I got all ready to go at the digging when Sierra came running from the far corner of the fenced yard, carrying her prized turtle.  She’d gone on a hunch that her daddy had simply let him go in the yard upon discovery.  She was right.  And, here I was being foolish, thinking I would find him at the bottom of the dirt, as if my husband would be so neglectful.

I never could bring myself to telling David how his surprise affected my thinking about his competence.  I was ashamed of my reaction.  I was tempted to stick my head in the sand just to see if my guilt would go away.  I covered my guilt with a plan, which I felt would cause our relationship to grow.

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Our fourteenth wedding anniversary was coming up in two months.  I wanted to plan a celebration worthy of saving our marriage.  I figured we needed a renewal of our vows, which became the theme of my plans.  My search for a place large enough to hold one hundred and twenty people began right away; within a couple of days I’d found a hall that met my expectations and was available for our anniversary weekend.

The night of our celebration arrived and all went very well until it was time for the renewal of our vows.  This was a little secret I’d kept from David.  Having no idea why we were doing this he said, “No.”  He felt like it was unnecessary.  “Once is sticking well enough,” he said.

Well this embarrassed me and I was tempted to leave in a fit of tears, and I did.  Leaving was wrong and I definitely knew if I did leave I would be miserable, I was!

In my reflections I’ve decided I will never learn.  I will always give into my ill-fated temptations.  I will always know better than to do so, but nonetheless I will always do it just the same.

As it turned out David had a surprise of his own.  One he couldn’t let me miss in my hour of ill temper.  He followed me to the car and told me he was sorry and asked me to come back inside.  He said he would cooperate with me to make me happy.  I trusted him and reluctantly gave into his will.
         
Every one of the guests was standing in the center of the hall milling around.  We moved through, dispersing the crowd, ending up in the center.  David pulled a small velvet box from a pocket in his suit cost, and opened the lid.  He began to speak, but his words didn’t quite reach my ears, I was too overcome with emotion.  He was reaching for my left hand, which I was holding with my right one and wringing so hard I’d nearly lost circulation.

“Darling,” David was saying, “this is a symbol of my love to you.  We’ve had the most wonderful fourteen years a couple could ever imagine.  I am a happy man.  Thank you for your dedication, love, and care for our family.”  At this point he slipped the ring on my finger.  It was smooth and light and sparkling, and it must have cost a fortune for it was the largest rock I had ever seen in a diamond.  After I stopped screeching and jumping up and down, I wiped the tears from my eyes and kissed him soundly; and the crowd cheered us on.  We were on our way to another chapter of our marriage.

Later David explained his reaction that had hurt me earlier.  He couldn’t let the ceremony be conducted on my terms as his token of love was something that meant more than any rededication service ever could.  His gift to me spoke of continued union and dedication: unbroken through faithfulness to our spoken vows.  We celebrate lasting devotion that continues to follow us through the years.  We either choose to pull apart or come together, it’s up to us.  We use pulling power in our marriage to bring happiness. 

Since our fourteenth wedding anniversary we have lived a good many happy years together.  Life has been full of trials and temptations.  I continue to give into temptation as it is something I can’t resist.  I am tempted to give David another fifty years of marriage.  We’ve already had our fiftieth wedding anniversary another fifty should about do it!

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