Romance, Richard Gere and Tennis Shoes

I have often accused my husband of not getting what it means to be romantic. Remember the movie Shall We Dance with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez? There is a scene in the movie that never fails to make my heart skip a beat. Remember when he comes up the escalator to see his wife? She’s at work and he is wearing a tuxedo and carrying a dozen roses. Oh my goodness, does your heart not melt?

Bill, my husband, has worked hard at understanding the female psyche and what it takes to keep me happy. We’ve been married 29 years and it’s taken him awhile but he’s finally catching on. One of my favorite “He just doesn’t get it” stories happened when our twins were born.  I was supposed to have an epidural but it was the day after Christmas and my doctor was out of town. No epidural, but the twins came anyway. Imagine my surprise when a dozen yellow roses were delivered to my room! Yellow roses are my favorite and when Bill came to the room later to check on me I immediately thanked him for the flowers.

“Uh, they aren’t from me,” he said.

I checked the card. I had assumed they were from him, but they were from my doctor. Along with a note apologizing for not being there when I needed him.

“I did bring you something though,” Bill said and handed me a gift wrapped box.

This was his chance to redeem himself. Jewelry, maybe? The box was too big. Clothes? Nah, it was too heavy.

I opened it up. A new pair of tennis shoes. Not exactly romantic but thoughtful and they did come in handy.

The twins are seventeen years old now and I’ve gone through lots of pairs of tennis shoes since then and I have no immediate plans to slow down. In fact, I plan to speed up. Why? Because of an article I read on U.S. News and World Report.

I love to walk and it’s my favorite form of exercise but it seems I need to kick it up a notch. A study in France says that people who walk slowly (or stroll) are three times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those who walk  fast.

So maybe those tennis shoes weren’t romantic, but Bill had the right idea. If we want to stay healthy, we have to keep moving and the faster we move the better.