The Asst. Zookeeper has done a dis-service to the rest of the population of "significant others." And, sadly, because I have spent the past 17 (!!!) years of my life with him, sometimes I fail to notice it. But this fact truly jumped to my attention this week.
This past Sunday, I loaded up 7 scouts from our Cub Scout Pack, along with 2 additional parents, and we headed to resident camp - an overnight camp that last from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday evening. The scouts range in age from 7 to 10.
The Asst. Zookeeper helped me with all the loading of equipment - and thankfully thought of a few items that I had forgotten to put on the packing list. He then spent his Sunday afternoon pulling a trailer to camp and assisting me with getting the boys all set up. He did most of the set up alone while the scouts were touring the camp - I came back to a campsite that was ready to go.
Then he stayed late into the night to make the scouts' their snack - cinnamon rolls in the dutch ovens. He didn't head home from camp until almost 11 pm. And he had to be up and out the door for work by 5 am the following morning. Did I mention camp is an hour from home?
Monday evening, he left work and came straight back out to camp. The Asst. Zookeeper proceeded to heat up the dutch ovens again and proceeded to make 10 dozen chocolate chip cookies for snack. And again, he didn't leave camp until almost 11 pm.
Tuesday evening, he went straight home after work because we were having pizza in our treehouse with my nephew. After a full day of work, the man was willing to crawl up into the treehouse with a two-year-old and eat pizza on paper plates.
Wednesday evening, he headed straight to camp from work to help tear everything down so that the scouts could come home. We didn't get to the house until after 8 pm.
Around 11 pm, we were sitting in bed and watching some sitcom on television. I was checking Facebook on my phone. One of our friends had posted something very sad.
"Sad day at the O---- household. Bob the raccoon and her baby got hit by a car last night. The girls are broken hearted."
Her family has spent the past few years feeding a raccoon they named "Bob" before discovering that "he" was really a "she." They have watched Bob and her babies every summer. Unfortunately, Bob and this year's baby were hit by a car on Wednesday evening - right beside their driveway. The girls were understandably upset. Their mother was making a point of turning the other direction out of the driveway so that the girls wouldn't see the poor raccoons every time they left the house.
We live less than a mile from this friend. I looked over at the Asst. Zookeeper and asked him, "Any chance you want to drive over and move the raccoons off the road?" He just looked at me for a minute. Then he got up, put his shoes on, and headed out the door. When I looked out the window, all I could see was him, with shovel in hand, headed for his truck.
The Facebook post the following morning:
"Not sure if it was a coincidence or an awesome act of kindness...but both raccoons are gone. The girls noticed right away and were so relieved. THANK YOU!!!!"
While I wish more people were married to someone like my Asst. Zookeeper, unfortunately, I'm not planning to let him go anytime soon.
To my Asst. Zookeeper:
You spoil me shamelessly. You tolerate my quirks, usually with a smile and a shake of your head. Thank you - I am a VERY lucky girl. Love ya!
