Ode To An English Rose

Some people say I have commitment issues, because I'm not married yet.
I say they are wrong!

I've been in a "committed relationship" that lasted almost 17 years.
We were together in thick times and in thin times.
They took their bad day out on me and I took mine out on them.
We laughed together, well kind of. We cried together, definitely.

My most recent "committed relationship" has lasted almost 8 years.
It's not the same kind of love and bond as my 17 year "committed relationship" but it's just as good and it has it's own personality.

It takes a lot to be in these "committed relationships."
They are time consuming.
They are tedious.
They also seem to be a lot of me giving and a lot of them taking.

Wellllll...
In hindsight, they gave a lot.


They gave you smelly farts in the middle of laying next to you.

They gave you Eskimo kisses when you weren't looking.

They pawed and put their hands on you when they needed to make contact.

They gave you Catfish lips when you sat or laid next to them.

They gave you jockey run when you would jump out from behind the door to scare them.

They gave you Rodeo Dog when you played 'Christmas Stick' on them.

They gave you long droolies when your dinner smelled much better than theirs.

They gave you excellent cussings when you deserved them and when you did not.

They gave you chattering teeth to tell you, "It's cold in here Damn it!"

They gave you sad puppy dog eyes with their head on your knee when they felt you might not be understanding their immediate needs.

They gave you an alarming bark when evil garage doors opened or dumpster trucks were threatening you with danger.

They gave you bunny chases during their sleep to let you know all was taken care of in dream land.

They let you run around the couch chasing them.

They let you walk under their legs if that was the shortest route.

They let you bite their jowls when they wrestled with you.

They let you get a good face whoopin with their long pointed tale.

They let you know that any bird a minute away was not going to harm you or anyone you loved.

They let you love them...
...and they let you know you were loved back.

For my Cali-Mari...You were the first English I loved.