Melting My Heart

  

  The last few days my husband has surprised me, and not in a "Boo", jumping around the corner kind of way. I know that he is a good man and has a big heart, but his rough and tough attitude, boisterous voice, and intense ego sometimes make it difficult for others to see.  However, he has changed so much and I couldn't be prouder.   We were talking about a situation in the area where a local boy who is on the wrestling team was suspended early in the year from participating in matches because he had gotten in trouble with the law.  There were other boys involved with the situation as well, and they were all punished.  A few weeks ago the coach decided that the boy could begin wrestling at matches again and he is taking a lot of heat for it.  Why was I impressed with Eric?  He told me that he believed that the boy needs to have something to work for, strive for, and that wrestling might be the only thing that can keep the boy out of trouble and take him somewhere in life.  The family doesn't have one of the fortunate last names in town, they don't have much education, no money for college, but this boy is a fantastic wrestler.  Needless to say, I was impressed that Eric could see how kicking the boy off the team for the whole year would probably do more damage than good.  

 

But this wasn't the end of it...  I am writing a grant for a social service agency, as I've mentioned before.  At first Eric thought this was a waste of my time and I was frustrated.  However, after I have explained the idea, how it will work, the difference it could make and how excited I am about it, he had a totally different attitude.  Instead he began throwing out ideas, casting out names of people to call, and talked about it all evening.  I went to feed calves and when I came back the discussion went on.  This is where I found myself almost in tears...   He talked about how when I begin working that I should still do some freelance grant writing because he would like to take any money that I would make from it to start a scholarship fund for local kids that want to go into some type of agricultural program.  I think it's a great idea of course!  But moreso, this just reiterated to me that no matter how tough he seems on the outside, that deep down he is very loving and caring, and it about melted my heart.  Every day I find reminders of why I fell in love with him, and find a deeper appreciation of that as time goes by.  Now, if I can just get him to do dishes we'll really be making progress! ;~)