No one south of Atlanta should be on these roads today with the storm approaching. Correction: no one south of Atlanta should be on these roads with the Category 4 Hurricane heading our way. They say it’ll still be a Cat 1 clear up to Macon, then a tropical storm before Atlanta. It’s forecast to spin right through our county, right through our pine trees like the Tasmanian devil in all those cartoons. Schools are called off today and tomorrow for best safety practice, and here’s my still-ambitious husband in all his 63 years, heading out to brave the roads in his nylon raincoat, his lunchbox, and his oversized umbrella. He gave our three dogs their morning goodbye treats, and each headed to a separate chair to settle in for their morning naps as he headed down the hall to the garage and out to his truck. But not before I yelled, “Be careful out there. Be extra careful. I need you.”
This isn’t something we say. We’ve always said I love you, and have prided ourselves for all our years of marriage on not actually needing each other but making it a daily choice to want to be with the other – – not to need the other in a dependent kind of way. But this morning needed the truth, and it stopped him in his tracks.
“That’s nice to hear,” he said, closing the door behind him.
A second later, he opened it. “You really don’t, you know, but it is nice to hear.” And then he left for work. I sat sipping cold coffee and admiring the sweet slumber of our pups in their chairs, not a worry on their Schnauzery brows.
We used to believe
we were loved, not needed – but
now we know we’re both
Common Threads 
I need to remember this sentiment. Something changes in a long marriage. It seems the longer we are here, the more we notice how precious it is to be with each other. I do need Jeff, but I can’t remember if I’ve ever said it out loud. Thanks for this sweet reminder.
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