ruby red marriage bed

I often refer to my bed as "The Bed".  It is a proper noun, in my mind.  My marriage bed is the epitome of all my beds, beloved and changing over the years.  It's not just the fact that it holds us, safe in the night, or that moment of the day where I catch eight more minutes of sleep, with my arms entangled in his, holding him like a life preserver.  I love the sight of my husband's flushed sleeping face when I wake up first, starting the day and the coffee, kissing him as I go by each time.  Covered in ruby red, the crumple of a down comforter, which spurs the memory of running across German hotel rooms with my brother, pell-nell, leaping and crashing into the sea of white covers, an ocean of bed.  Those linens were like heaven, their dense fluffiness towering up to the ceiling.  I remember being sorry we had to get up to go see whatever sights, and I would do something I never did at home- pull the covers over my head, breathing in the cave of morning light, shielded by heavy comfort. 

These days I insist on no TV and no radio in our bedroom. The Bed is a place for sleep, for reading, for love.  For naps, oh the precious golden hours of naps.  Before I got married my bed was mind-numbingly cluttered.  Clothes heaped on the side, books, always books.  Littered at my feet, inches from my face.  It always drove me slightly crazy.  Now, there is none of that.  I usually go to bed before Husband, retiring with my ever-present book, lamps blazing, Velcro panting on the floor beside The Bed.  Sometimes he is allowed to jump up for a snuggle, and I laugh at his black comma of a body pressing against my side, so eager to receive petting before I start reading and sail away on my boat of words. I'll turn over on my right side, taking up the middle of The Bed while I can, and fall asleep holding my book.  Every morning I wake up to find it on the nightstand, pages spread where I left them, and it comforts me. Finding my book (which I do before I head into the kitchen for coffee, before I look for my glasses)  in the same place, carefully preserved, is one of those tiny moments that makes me love our relationship more than day before.  It's the grout in the tile of our love.  Some people probably feel this way about their partners picking up their socks or wet towels, but for me, it's the fact that he knows how important it is to me to have my book as I begin each day.

Sunday Scribblings

Comments

[Marilyn]

Oh, honey, my man does the EXACT same thing. And given the fact that he's not a reader, the care he takes to make sure my place is marked and my book is right where I'd want it to be lets me know just how much he loves me...by knowing just how much reading means to me. :)

[kristine]

I love this. I sometimes wake up on cold nights to the feel of my husband carefully pulling the blankets up over me. There is such comfort in those married moments...

[lizardek]

Yay for the bed :) No TV and no radio is an excellent rule, hold fast to it.

[christina]

Ah a true bookworm you are! I loved the line, "the black comma of his body" You're such a great writer!

[bellabelly]

oooh, love this.

[rachael]

Too sweet.

[Rebekah]

This is precious, Precious. And I love that Beaux saves your place for you. What could be sweeter?

[tinker]

Down comforters are the best - as are husbands sweet enough to carefully mark our places in our books (I love that feeling of my guy watching over me in my sleep). Sweet post!

[liz elayne]

oh i love this. your book tucked under your arm as you fall asleep, finding it on the nightstand in the morning. the little things that they do to remind us we are loved. beautiful.

[dutch from sweet juniper]

this was really nice. it reminds me how important it is to have a nice inviting bed. whenever I move I buy whatever's on sale at sleep train or mattress mart, but this next time we're going to get a good one. maybe I'll be less inclined to leave wet towels on it then.

[Bethany]

Josh does that too. I fall asleep with my book on my nose and I almost wake up when he comes to bed and marks my spot, places it on the nightstand, tucks the blanket under my chin, turns off the lamp and crawls in....

Oh, I sooooo love married life!