How dipping chips strengthens marriage

February 14, 2005

Our first Valentines day as husband and wife. Love abounded, poverty availed.

Braden was waiting tables at Los Hermanos and I was working at the treatment center. We both got home from work around 11ish every night. Since I was (/am) a big believer in the "buy the store brand, save a dollar" school of thought, Braden suffered through bag after bag of no name tortilla chips. It was a cruel, sad world for our dear food snob. So I took the chance to heap upon him lavish gifts of food and beverage. I came home to our humble apartment on the corner of the Center street roundabout, prepared to blow his mind with "Hint of Lime" Tostitos and a bottle of Vanilla Coke. Upon arrival, I could see that he too was very excited to unveil something to me. He brought home from work a pint of my thick, chunky green addiction, known on the street as guacamole. My favorite, but also not in the budget. It was thrilling that together, yet secretly, we had created a snackish masterpiece. We sat up late eating and talking and laughing. It was the best.

So every February 14th since then, and every one till we die, has been and will be spent trying our darndest to re-create that perfect night.

Here's to loving each other even more as the years go by as we consume thousands of calories in a single sitting. I like to imagine that the romance will flourish, even if we are pulsing our chips and guac through the blender and sucking it down our old wrinkly faces through a straw.

This year the Claysons came and watched the girls for us for a few hours so we could go play racquetball. It is after all the token outing of romance, as everybody clearly knows. Then Braden made a Valentine for the girls. Lila ran to him and asked, "Will you be my Valentime?", and I think both our hearts stopped for a minute. It made me want to take her immediately to Build-a-Bear and spend a grotesque amount of money to record her saying that and stuff it in a bear so I could hear it every night.

I know some people are on the fence about Valentine's being a commercialized day made only for retailers- I here take a stand in defense of this pink, mushy, questionable holiday. For under ten bucks a year we get stupidly excited for what has become "our thing"- our way of saying and celebrating that we make a perfect team. I go so far as to say that our chips and guac are almost symbolic to us- just chips or just guac alone is nothing special. But once paired together they compliment each other perfectly. And any chance some little girls have to receive a homemade pink heart love note from their Daddy seems like a good idea to me.

And, according to research, we are also significantly reducing our risk of divorce by participating in marriage traditions and rituals. I learned that in college. Which cost me about $18,000. And now you know it for free. Happy Valentine's Day, from me to you.