For Christmas, he gave me a gift certificate to a day spa along with this note:
It came at the right time. I had been working so much on the bus that I was getting really tired of wearing my work clothes everyday. My nails were also chipping more often and my skin felt dry. When I redeemed the spa package, I got a relaxing massage and a mani-pedi. The massage was so relaxing that towards the end I fell asleep and was snoring. How do I know? I woke myself up several times by the sound of my gutteral snores. The manicure was a bit of a dilemma. Knowing that I work so much on my hands, I knew that a regular polish was going to erode within a few days. A new type of polish has come out on the market and it supposedly will last 2 weeks. I contemplated doing this - until I found out it would have been an extra $25! That's the amount of a mani-pedi at a regular asian-lady salon - and they have massaging chairs! Despite the theme of the day being, "Treat Yo' Self," I held back and enjoyed what Michael had bought for me.
A few weeks later, Michael told me he was going to have our friends babysit the kids so he and I could go and finally have a date! The last time we had had a date was on December 30, 2012. I don't have a super memory - I just don't go on dates with Michael very much that I can tell you the exact date they occur!
Michael chose a restaurant in St. Petersburg, which to me had been odd because it was so far away from our friends in Bradenton. Michael urged me to live it up a little since it was such a rare occasion. I was easily convinced because it's true we don't have an opportunity like this often. Before Michael and I went out I had researched things we could do in the area. I made a list of bars and historic hotels we could check out and shared it with him on our way to dinner. He seemed enthused but not as much as I thought he would be. He instead was telling me about the live music we could catch after dinner.
At dinner we had an incredible time talking about politics, religion and the economy. It had been a long time since we had could talk without interruption! Then Michael turned the conversation to China and an allegedly cultish group called Falun Gong, who were being persecuted by the government. In my earlier research I had remembered that there was a Chinese performance going on in St. Pete. When Michael mentioned that the Falun Gong uses a dance performance called Shen Yun to spread their message, I pointed out, "Hey, I think they're showing that right around the corner at the big theatre!" Michael then confirmed, "Yes! It starts at 8pm and we have tickets."
WHHAAAAAT???!!?
I thought he was joking, but no ... he had been planning the whole thing since the beginning of the year! Michael is so full of surprises and I love that about him! Another thing I love about him is his interest in knowledge. While we waited in our Orchestra seats for the show to begin, Michael pulled out 2 articles regarding the Falun Gong. One from the Chinese government reflecting the group negatively and another from the US's CIA reporting seemingly objectively.
I am not an ungrateful woman, but I have to admit that the show was hokey. Michael even warned me it would be, but I took it with a grain of salt since he's not a regular patron of such shows as Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, nor Miss Saigon. But I still enjoyed it in that, armed with the background of the group's intentions and their history of persecution, I was able to review the performance in the additional perspective as a propaganda tool. It definitely made me sympathize with them, but then again, I usually side with the underdogs. As a cultural piece, however, it felt more like a bunch of Asian Americans trying to fulfill their dashed dreams of joining a New York ballet troupe. It's true that I get my history of China from period, martial-arts movies, but the few bits of Chinese opera that I've seen never had so much ballet in it.
I used to love the Extreme song, "More Than Words," in which the singers talk about showing love through actions instead of professing it verbally. When Michael I first started dating, it really bothered me he didn't say I love you very much - I was obviously oblivious to the song's message of not needing the words to feel loved. Michael probably goes years without using the "L" word, but he definitely shows it everyday. And every now and then, they are grand gestures I cherish.
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