When Matt and I met, I was going through a bit of a rule follower phase.
Mind you, I’d just come out of a major rule-follower-by-day-rule-breaker-by-night phase before that. I was due some major boring rule following.
The first summer we were dating (back in 2001), we headed to the beach with my family. I remember lying on the beach, doing perfectly nothing. Following the “rules” of lying around getting a tan.
Imagine my surprise when out of nowhere I see my future husband, long hair and all (don’t worry, I’m searching for a pic) running down the beach, bread crumbs in hand.
Long hair and arms flapping in the wind, he was running wildly down the shore slinging crumbs into the air. He was feeding the seagulls.
With great disdain, I looked around the beach, knowing so many people hated us and that my father surely thought Matt was certifiable. I was embarrassed at his unwillingness to follow the beach-laying-out-do-nothing rules.
After a few stern looks, an excited Matt came back to sitting beside me doing nothing. Good for him. After a few beach trips and many more stern looks later, Matt flat out told me I was way too worried about what other people thought, and I needed to relax. He was just feeding the birds, for crying out loud.
I was mad and felt like he was belittling my crusade to follow the rules of beach etiquette for sunbathers everywhere. But after a few years of me not feeding the birds and him continually feeding the darn things, I loosened up.
So much so that now…
Well, now I have a bird feeding husband who is highly encouraging my kids to become bird feeders too.
And while it still is weird for a non-bird feeder like me, I get that it’s so not a big deal. That my worries were totally tied to people’s impressions of me, and who cares really?
That my husband feeds those dumb birds less than he used to because he loves me and I forget about it when he does because I love him.
To all you bird-feeders out there who make us non-bird feeders way less boring.
Haha! I know exactly what you mean. My husband was a giant hole digger 🙂
Too funny! I am the bird feeder and my hubby lays in the sun like a good boy! I don’t care what anyone thinks if me. At the end if every day, it’s between me and Jesus. And as long as he thinks I’m worthy to feed his flock, he will allow me the privledge to do so.
My hubby loves my loud laugh, humor that is never ending and he says my heart and capacity to love and forgive is something he admires.
So, I will continue to feed those pesky birds as long as I’m able!
It is a blessing, one I am so thankful for!
LOL…I love the “giant hole digger” comment. Yeah, you must share a picture of Matt with long hair. I love the picture of Ava throwing the sand.
My husband has to walk the beach. With his shirt off. He’s almost 60. Bird feeding would be a plus at this point.
This story makes me laugh and smile!
We took a beach family vacation with my in-laws last year for the first time. We have a three year old son and it was his first time at the beach. Much to my dismay, my father in law, husband and son fed the birds all week long. Oh, the stares we got from the crowd at the beach. I was pretty irritated and all I wanted to do was walk the beach, read books and relax.
Well, by the end of the week my son had me feeding the birds too. He still talks about that trip and can’t wait to return with his grandparents again.
Memories in the making!
Betsy
I am a bird feeder as well. And a squirrel feeder. I get scolded for feeding the squirrels on campus, but it is so cute how they get to know me and follow me!
In our family, my husband and I both are bird feeders. I think when we were younger, we cared so much about what other people thought of us, but eventually it became too tiring, and in the end, people are going to think what they want no matter how much we tried to blend-in with their standards. We finally relaxed.
Have fun, even when people give you the ‘stink-eye’ 😉
I’ve read this post a couple times and it makes me giggle b/c as a coastal resident all my life, I don’t think people are glaring at you for not relaxing. It’s b/c seagulls are like dirty sky rats and if you feed them, they defecate all over everybody around them. LOL!! They also get so familiar with people that they won’t stop terrorizing for food. So feed away! But, just know that there’s probably a deeper reason for “the looks” than being beautiful free spirits. 🙂
Haha, no you’re exactly right, Marion….I just meant I wanted to relax. The looks are for the dirty sky rats. 😉
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