Peter Loves Betty

Normally we celebrate Love this month by giving our beloved dead flowers, going to dinner and then returning home for a more private celebration. Due to the sensible COVID restrictions, and more importantly the fact that my sweet Betty does not like flowers, I am choosing to use the medium of my column to offer her my Valentine wishes, my opportunity to publicly thank her for bringing so much happiness and love into my Life.

I am writing this from the only perspective which I can view it from, that of a participant in a long term, monogamous adult relationship. The generalities of our relationship are the same vital generalities that any relationship such as ours needs to survive and flourish. We display mutual respect, mutual self-respect, clear, honest communication, tolerance, compromise, altruistic thinking and sexual fidelity.

The specifics, however, may be not so commonplace. After we had “met” and began to talk, I told you all about me, about the grief I had undergone as my dear Lois passed from cancer. You understood, for you too had watched as a partner passed. We discussed how stressful our lives had been and what coping methods we had developed to “get by”. I told you that I was unlike any other man you had ever met. I pride myself in being a caring, compassionate, understanding man, who has a wicked sense of humour.

After some time we finally met….and hit it off from the very start. You moved in with me in Toronto, and our relationship started to bloom. CoCo took to you from the very beginning. The second time you and I entered our apartment after a brief absence, CoCo ran right past me…to you. I was very pleased to see that you and her developed a strong bond. She has become less aloof, more friendly, even playful at times. I knew that she gave you her “seal of approval” when she started to get up on the bed and sleep on you, for however brief a time.

While we enjoyed our apartment, we agreed that it was too small and limiting. So we began the search for a new place to live. We both had to adjust our attitudes, as we were both used to making decisions on own. Now we both had to agree on decisions because we were both putting our mental and physical energy, as well as our finances, into whatever course of action we were following. It was wonderful realizing that we were both well aware that the relationship was more important than anything else. It felt so nice to be half of a couple again, after such a sad period of grief and sorrow.

Just the simple joys of domestic life, like making a grocery list, (you’re the only woman I know who is thrilled to get flyers.) Sitting together drinking coffee or going out to pick up one of your Internet “finds”, very wonderful and fulfilling. So nice to get up when I feel like, to go to bed when I feel it, such a great way to spend my retirement. Having you here with me only makes it sweeter.

Now while our happy little menagerie consists of 3 mammals, there are other, more unusual members, hence the aforementioned different “specifics” of our relationship. While many of you may be aware of Mr Duck, who has featured on my timeline before and has also gone to Cherry Cola’s on two occasions, and who also likes Joe Kenda, a retired Colorado Springs homicide detective who has a show on the “Investigation Discovery” channel, there are others of varying species. Betty has accepted, nay, she has willingly embraced them all, even “Elvis”.

I am willing to bet that less than 10% of the people reading this have a yak in their house, or apartment, for that matter. Not only do WE have a yak, but his name is Elvis”. As we live in an apartment, by necessity he is invisible. Unfortunately he is also incontinent. As a result, Elvis lives on the balcony. To give the situation a added touch of absurdity, he is enamored with the International Space Station and keeps track of it throughout the night. He also “goes” to the grocery store with me. When I get back to the apartment, Betty always asks me how it went. I always enjoy making up some escapade which Elvis “got into”, such as licking an eggplant or eating flowers or “hitting on ” an idling truck. We have a good laugh.

I hasten to add that we are serious when the situation demands it. Our rent and bills are paid. Our larder is full. Our love grows every day and we have a great deal of fun. I am sitting here right now finishing off this column as Betty gets ready for us to go to our new doctor.

Things are going well here, as my life changes for the better.

So sweet Betty, a very happy Valentine’s Day to you. Thank you for making me want to be a better person, for showing me that I am still desirable. I love you XOXO, and I eagerly await our future.

Loyal Reader, never miss a chance to let that special person know what they mean to you. Celebrate your love on Valentine’s Day, but don’t overlook the rest of the year.

See you soon.

=PJM=

A confirmed Cat person, Peter dabbled with being a water boy, a paper boy and an altar boy before finally settling on a career with the Canadian federal government.  Once, in his youth, he ate a Dutch  oven full of mashed potatoes to win a 5 cent bet with his beloved sister Mary’s boyfriend. (Of course he was much younger and a nickel went a lot farther!) He has retired to palatial “Chez Montreuil”, which he shares with his little buddy CoCo the Fashionable. He is blessed to have the beautiful Betty in his life. He is not only a plastic aircraft modeller, but a proud “rivet counter”. Military aviation and live music are among other interests of his, and he tries to get out to as many shows as he can. He will be here for your enlightenment whenever the stars align. Profile photo courtesy of Pat Blythe, caricature courtesy of Peter Mossman.