Covered

I've blogged before about how Peter and I are more of a (so thought) traditional couple, in that I'm a homemaking domestic SAHM and he's the breadwinning head-of-household. This isnt prose about being a submissive wife or anything else; rather, it's just a story. A sweet story, in my opinion.

When I go to Mass, I cover my head with a mantilla or chapel veil. Normally, we go to the Vigil but we went to the 10am this morning instead. It's busier, but the homily was lovely and was what I especially needed to hear. During the Holy/Sanctus, Bobby decided he wanted a mommy-snuggle (I was already holding Maya) so he lunged from Peter's arms into mine. And proceeded to be the cutest little guy in the building. He would pat my head and smooth the mantilla, then he lifted it and touched our foreheads together with the word "Love". Adorable... Of course, as we began to kneel for the Eucharistic prayers, he pulled it off and dropped it behind our pew! (We were the last pew of the front, so there is a walkway between our pew and the first of the second set.)

I discretely walk around and grab the mantilla, repositioning it and continuing to pray. Then, he grabs it again; I'm not going to get in the middle of a mantilla war, so I've resigned to just let it go until after the "Amen" when I can grab it back. It bothers me, but I can suck it up. (I dont cover when I cantor, so it isnt as though I cant get through a Mass without it). But, just as I was about to take that deep breath and let my own feelings about being uncovered drift away, I felt a warm presence on my head.

It was Peter's hand.

A gentle, loving hand, placed with care on top of my head where the mantilla would have rested had our son not decided the black lace looked better on him (and then the pew).

It was sweet. It was symbolic. It was a caring thought done without hesitation. He didnt do it because being uncovered is an automatic go-to-hell free card or because he felt uncomfortable that I wasnt covered, but because he knew that, internally, it bothers me. I dont even know if he consciously debated it, the movement was so seamless.

It made me think of a lot of times when he's covered me, not always in a physical sense. And that small action that lasted only a few moments ignited a warmth that filled my heart with love and, if I'm honest, a deep respect for this man that I've spent the last fourteen years of my life with.

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On a similar note, this song reminds me of Peter, too. (Although a fair amount of songs do, LOL...)