Tough Titties

My husband and I were driving along in the car, flipping quickly through channels, playing our “guess the artist” game to keep ourselves occupied during travel time.  We both consider ourselves quite well educated in many different musical genres, and thus we scan the stations in an attempt to be the first to correctly identify the song or artist currently playing.  

 

Occasionally, when whoever is in charge of the dial deems the song to be worthy, we stay on the station a little longer and begin poorly singing along.  I am usually the individual to begin singing, prodding my husband  to join along, often making such declarations as “I be Tina; you be Ike.  C’mon! We’re rolling on the river now!”  This desire to be Ike and Tina only applies to our musical duets.

 

In this particular scenario it was my husband who lingered on the station a little longer.  It was an unexpected choice for him, but he began blaring out the lyrics to Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”  Not in need of the same encouragement I must often supply him, I eagerly joined along in full dramatic force.  

 

“Turn around,” I sang while turning to him with sad, longing eyes, “every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you’re never coming round.” I continued singing as I then took his hand in mine and began to stroke his palm. “Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears.”  With this lyric, I turned my head sharply from him and acted out anger and despair to the best of my theatrical abilities.  “Turn around,” the volume of our voices increased, as my spouse played his role in this scene and jointly sang with deep emotion, “I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by.”  

 

As the chorus approached, our vocals and foolish dramatics climaxed, “And I need you now tonight, and I need you more than ever.”  “Forever’s gonna start tonight!” we both hollered and giggled, glancing at each other and stealing secret smiles as though we were still young lovers on the school yard.  

 

Our two young children were strapped into their respective car seats in the back seat, quietly enduring their parent’s dreadful duet.  As the song finished, I turned to my husband and gave him a genuine kiss on the cheek.  “We are such dorks,” I then declared, “These kids are going to be so embarrassed when we still do this stuff in their teens.”

“Well, tough titties for them,” he announced, and gently stroked my leg, smiling at me.  I unabashedly grinned back, delighted that we could act silly without being self-conscious.  I’m not at all worried that the best of all our years have gone by; I know we have many more good years and our forever is the real deal.  This love was meant to last, so our children will undoubtedly have to endure such embarrassing scenes in the future.  Tough titties for them, but what a blessing for me to be married to a truly remarkable, kind man who fully accepts me as I am.

 

 

It's a total eclipse of the heart, and I'm totally in love with my spouse.