Day 76: That's a Line

I said; "Baby, what's wrong with your breathing?"
He said; "It's you, you just take the breath right out of me."
I groaned and said; "That's a line..."

He's wheezing and searching the glove compartment for his inhaler while I stand there watching.  We've just run up a smallish hill and while it is well into the minuses outside, I don't understand the asthma attack.  But it's the winter of 2007 and we've only been married for a handful of months; we've only known each other since July.  And in the knowing process, I've learned he's full of lines and I can see them coming from a short distance away.  As it turns out, my eyes are like stars and my hands are like magic.  Apparently I have the ability to rise the sun and spin the earth, with just a glance.  Oh, you didn't know?  Yeah... 
For the first year, every compliment was a line and it used to make me crazy.  Just don't say anything at all, I would say.  I'm from the school where silence is better than a cliche any day of the week.  Three years later, I'm not so sure. 

Today I'm wondering, what are the lines that we use?  And what does an honest heart look like?  Maybe love isn't about saying exactly what you feel and not saying what you don't feel.  Maybe love is saying what your partner needs to hear, even if it's not a complete reflection of reality. 

This morning he woke me early with coffee.  I'm buried in the down comforter with my wild morning-hair head poking out of the feathers. There's no doubt that I'm quite a terrifying sight. But this morning he called me his winter crocus- the first to bloom in spring- sometimes sticking it's head out of the snow.  He said I was his brave flower. And three years ago I would have rolled my eyes and said, "Really? that's the best line you can come up with?!" But not today.  Today I'm going to hold onto the line.  Because it means he still loves me like be did in the beginning.  And that's what I've been looking for.  A reminder.