Pleasant Moment

I suppose you have to endure some things to appreciate those pleasant moments in life.  I suppose also that maybe pleasant things happen after you weather the unpleasant things.  Case in point, yesterday at Casa Kaulins.  My wife was on my case.  I won't get into the details but I have to say she was right to get on my case. (And I do have to thank God that I have been able to get someone on my case  -- for so long, I have been self-supervised and I was wont to always give myself the benefit of a doubt.  I did try to make things tough on myself but never excruciatingly so.)  Sometimes, though, her criticism is unfair, but I try my best to let it be -- she has to look after Tony by herself -- most Chinese wives have a mother-in-law to help them.  So, I don't blame her for having a short fuse.  (In the first year of our marriage, I yelled back at a her.  Boy, did we have some scenes.  I wondered if the marriage would last.)  Sometimes, I can't answer criticism because she has me dead to rights -- I screwed up and acted selfishly.  Yesterday, I was silent for both reasons, but mostly because I couldn't answer the valid criticisms.  Last night, I was in bed, lying beside Tony, after a bout of criticism from my wife.  I held Tony's hand as I fell asleep.  When he did, I took to reading and listening to some podcasts (Chesterton from EWTN).  Jenny came into the bedroom, and looked at me intently.  She asked if I was mad at her.  I said I wasn't but I fely fear of being chided again.  She then said she was sorry for being mad at me, but she loved me and wanted me to act better.

Great moment.  I am not alone.

And as Chesterton said somewhere, to love something is to want to reform it.