Those Damn Legos

Somewhere in a house in Virginia there sits a pirates bounty of Legos that belonged to the man and were one of his favorite childhood pastimes.

Understand something: the man almost never complains or laments about anything. For a guy who has been through so much in the course of his lifetime, for a man who has experienced things we can only imagine in our most nightmarish dreams, he says very little in the way of regret.

But over the course of our almost ten years of marriage, I have heard him lament the loss of those Legos more than once. And it sticks with me.

It sticks with me because, in a roundabout and twisted way, I am the reason he will never see those Legos again.

When the man married me, he had to choose between me and the Legos. Not in the way you might think - I don't have an irrational hate of Legos...unless I step on one in bare feet and then yeah, hate takes control. But aside from that, I am pretty fond of them myself.

No, it's because he had to choose between me and who the Legos are currently with.

I mentioned a while ago that I realized the enormity of the man's love for me by how much he must personally sacrifice to be with me. I was speaking of more recent years but the truth is he has always had to sacrifice to be with me. I daresay that some sacrifices are much easier than others, but that doesn't mean that the repercussions of such decisions don't have some weight.

Losing those Legos is the weightiest of all. In fact, it might be the only real thing about the situation that bothers him, as much as he lets anything about material possessions bother him.

That stash of unattainable Legos has suddenly become the perfect metaphor for our changing relationship.

There is nothing he and I can to do to get those particular Legos. There is nothing he and I are willing to do to get those particular Legos, because it would mean compromise in areas we will not ever compromise in. But just as we have had to reset and readjust our life together, and just as we have had to rebuild our relationship piece by piece, I am bound and determined to build him a collection of actual Lego pieces to go along with it.

I love the man more than anything. And I am going to show it, brick by colorful brick.

P.S. Um, so yeah if you have any loose Legos lying around or you want to know what to get me for Mother's day, my birthday, baby shower, anniversary, Christmas and every other holiday you can think...now you know.