Waiting for her

I had been waiting for her for forty years now. She had been late to our first date and that's when the waiting began. Not by much maybe five minutes, just fashionably late back then. But she was worth the wait because when I saw her she took my breath away. I felt like I had been waiting to find her my whole life when we first met on our first date.

Then and every date after she was always late and I grew accustomed to it, her being late. She had a hard time choosing the right dress or her hair was a mess. At first it made me apprehensive sitting there waiting but soon I realized that was just the way she was and I accepted her for that and never took it as an insult. She was late for our wedding, something about her dress having to be just right and that the bouquet had a wilting flower in it or something. She was late for our honeymoon I am still not sure how she did that.

I waited on chairs and I waited on benches. I waited in the park or in restaurants for hours just for my beautiful girl. I waited in grocery stores and theaters always fashionably late for everything I am sure. I always scheduled just a little more time than it took because I needed at least an extra five minutes. Oww and shopping for clothes took forever. I could never pick right for she asked my opinion but soon found out we did not even get serious about picking until she had tried on about fifty because nothing could be compared too until we had that many. Dresses and shoes, dresses and shoes, she was after all my Barbie doll. I do have to muse because my butt had left a permanent mark on that bench while I sat watching my butterfly become a Monarch and she loved to try on pretty things. I do like to joke but to be serious I just enjoyed watching her be herself.

Not by much but just a little. I have never seen the beginning of any movie because we were always late for it. So many times while waiting at home I would always watch the beginning of all the movies that we had been late for and that gave me something to do. For you see waiting for her had become my job and I always needed something to do.

After the marriage I felt like I had found home. She was the best after all and she only had one tiny flaw. I could live with that. Her beautiful personality seemed to brighten the room and was worth the wait and waiting I did. She was late for work, for shopping, and any night out. I would just take a seat and wait. She always arrived just a little bit late.

It was always a treat to hear here excuses. I have heard them all. It is so hard to pick out shoes and dresses after all. There was always a new hair style to try or new paint for her nails Her teeth needed extra flossing or her eye lashes were too long or too short. These things were all minor tragedies of some sort. I told her many times that she was beautiful enough. She still took my breath away and she knew it. I knew that was why she primed and brushed to impress me after all .

Her friends all knew it and when she was invited to something they told her a time that was an hour before it started so she would be close to on time when the party started. She was late to yoga, she was late to breakfast, and dinner, and supper. She was late to wake up and late to go to sleep in our big four poster bed.

It became the butt of many of my jokes and she put up with me for making them. She always knew I was kidding because I often told her so. You see waiting for her was like waiting for a beautiful butterfly. Lying still in it's cocoon until it hatched into something so beautiful. So I grew to love waiting for her. Her fussing over herself to look just right because believe me she was worth the wait.

She was late for our children, those two sweet kids. She carried them both a week longer than the due date. I was not worried because that is the way my wife worked always fashionably late. Even her body knew it and that's why those buns stayed in the oven just a little bit late. She was late taking them to school, she was late for their plays, their sports, and even on graduation day. She never missed anything but she was just always a little late. There were many times we were left standing in the back on important dates. The children always knew where to look for us just towards the back just a little late like always.

They understood her like I did and only loved her more because her being late was that she loved us a whole lot more. You see she was always late because she wanted to look and be her best just for us to be proud of her and we were. We never took her being late as anything but a compliment to us for being her world.

Now here I am waiting again. It has been a long time now. Too late in fact. It seems I have been waiting forever to see her at last. It was five years ago today that she left me waiting. She was late for our date and her car went into a skid and she did not make it and I buried her on our anniversary. So now I have been waiting to see her again. While I was waiting I got cancer and now the time is near and I will get to see her again my loving dear. Now there in the white light I see her again just fashionably late like she had always been. I looked back at all the time spent in my life sitting on chairs for her and realized I could wait for her till the end of time. As she looked at me with her arms outstretched, my beautiful bride, she was always the best. Now I would not have to wait anymore. My wait was now over, forever, in her loving arms once more.