Fruit Loops

I don't eat Fruit Loops, just the idea of sweetened artificially flavored circles getting soggy in milk makes my stomach turn. My kids don't eat them either. We are more grits or oatmeal people than cold cereal. Joe on the other hand will every now and then have a craving for a bowl of Fruit Loops with milk. So if you ever come to my house and look in my pantry you will find a box of Fruit Loops... top shelf - right hand side.
When we first got married, I NEVER bought Fruit Loops. I had what I thought were several good reasons: they were too expensive, they had way too much sugar, I thought they were disgusting, and I really couldn't see the point in keeping them in the house when Joe only wanted a bowl of them every couple of months or so.
The night of December 28th, 2004 was one of those nights that Joe wanted a bowl of Fruit Loops. I gave him my reasons why we didn't have any in the house and why as long as I was doing the grocery shopping we would not have them in the house. I don't remember if we argued, I just remember that I knew I was right. Fruit Loops were wasteful. The very next morning, I woke up to the phone ringing. It is a phone call that I will never forget. Joe's mother was on the line frantically telling me that I needed to get to the scene of an accident right away. While making a turn, the brakes had failed on the log trailer Joe was pulling and he ended up turning his truck over and rolling down an embankment. Honestly, my first thought was, "I should have bought the Fruit Loops." Due to poor communication, it was about an hour before I found out that he was going to be okay. Even then as relieved as I was, the Fruit Loop conversation kept running through my head. That afternoon, when all the excitement had died down, I went straight to the grocery store and bought the biggest box of Fruit Loops they had. I must have offered Joe Fruit Loops every night for a week! So since that time, there has always been a box of Fruit Loops in my pantry... top shelf - right hand side.
There have been many times that I have had to throw out the box and replace it with a new one because it had been there so long that they were stale. I have also been known to make a special trip to town to buy Fruit Loops because we were out of them for more than 24 hours. The thing is, I don't even think that Joe realizes how frantic I get about having Fruit Loops in the house. I do it more for me than for him. It is my way of showing him that I love him and although I may not understand or share his desires, I will always do my best to meet them. I do it so that every couple of months when he asks if we have any Fruit Loops; I can say, "Look in the pantry... top shelf - right hand side".
This Valentine's Day, with a struggling economy and a new baby joining us at any time, we have decided not to do anything big for each other. However, I will be going out and buying a fresh box of Fruit Loops and placing them in the pantry... top shelf - right hand side.
Happy Valentine's Day Joseph! I LOVE YOU!