Taylor

This post is long overdue. Taylor is my husband and best friend. He is my #1 fan and cheerleader. We've been married 9 years this fall, and there is too much to say, so I'll sum up what an amazing person he is, and how I know how much he loves me with one story.

Every so often our ward provides dinner for a local shelter for families. I had signed up (months ago!) to provide a pan of lasagna. I received the reminder call; I wrote it on the calendar. I made a mental note the night before to pick up a frozen lasagna at Costco, bake it, and deliver it at the designated location at the time assigned. BUT DID I REMEMBER TO DO ANY OF THIS? No. Instead, I got a phone call asking where my lasagna was at 5:05 pm. To say I felt like a huge idiot would be the understatement of the year. There was no earthly way to buy, cook, and deliver a lasagna by 6:00 pm.

Da-dada-DAAA! Here comes SuperTaylor to the rescue!


I call him in a panic, and he is already on his way home from work. (A little early...that's weird...) He remains cool, calm and collected while I freak out. "I had a very sudden thought that I should leave a bit early from work today," he says. Wow: a superhero who is in tune with the Spirit. Does it get any better than this?

He has a game plan. Yes, Costco is "out", but he's seen lasagna for sale in the deli at Safeway. While he's on the phone I look up every Safeway in a 20-mile-radius on the the computer. Then the hunt begins. I start getting friendly with deli managers on the phone, and he stops in at every supermarket he passes. There is not a full pan of lasagna to be found in all of Portland, it seems. The closest we come is a Safeway that has 4 single servings of lasagna for 4.99 each! EACH! I start thinking thoughts like, "I wonder if so-and-so happens to be making lasagna for dinner tonight?..."

Taylor continues cool, calm, and collected...working the plan. He starts dropping by restaurants. Not even Home Town Buffet is offering lasagna on their 20-main-course menu this evening. (But they would be more than happy to donate food in the future...actually very nice of them!)

Over the phone we decide a few rotisserie chickens are better than nothing. And then Superman is home much earlier than expected. "Were they OK with chicken?" I asked. "I found them a gourmet lasagna with ingredients imported directly from Italy. The retail price for the pan was $65, but I talked them down to $20." If you haven't met my man, you are really missing out.


In a last-ditch effort (but still with an optimistic, positive attitude to-be-sure!) Taylor had stopped at a gourmet Italian place and pleaded our case. Explaining that "one of the lasagnas failed to show up" he graciously omitted the fact that it was all my fault. The manager wanted to help, but had to phone the chef/owner to OK it. Taylor basically got to "name his own price" for the gourmet, direct-from-Italy lasagna. Have I mentioned what a tremendous people-person he is?

Reasons why this story makes me love Taylor:
1) He was unruffled in a stressful circumstance.
2) He never told me (or made me feel like) this was all my fault (though it clearly was!)
3) He is always optimistic!
4) He would not accept defeat.
5) He handled himself gracefully under pressure with strangers.
6) He made me feel like it was a pleasure to do all of this for me.

At the end of our very first date, I told Taylor I thought he was "a really nice guy". I'm so lucky he was able to see past my poor choice in words and to understand what I really meant. In the most true and genuine way, I could tell he was a real gentleman and good person down to the core. He is the ultimate "nice guy", but also so much more.

Thank you for making Mothers Day special for me, Taylor. SLY