My Favorite Husband

My Favorite Husband courtesy upload.wikimedia.org.  

Before “I Love Lucy” premiered on television in 1951, it was preceded by a radio broadcast called “My Favorite Husband’ starring Lucille Ball and Richard Denning.  Desi Arnaz, however, was Lucille’s real life husband and the one who would star with her in the television adaptation called "I Love Lucy".  The television network did not think the American public would accept Lucy starring with a Cuban, but she insisted and the network relented.  While Desi may have been her favorite husband in their twenty years of marriage, he was far from faithful.  The Cuban band leader had affair after affair while Lucy silently suffered.  Finally, in 1960, she called it quits.

I Love Lucy courtesy tvgcdn.net.

I have also been married for twenty years, but my story is quite different from Lucy’s.  The other day it struck me what a good husband I have!  He works very hard to provide for his family.  He always comes home at the end of the day.  He doesn’t head to the bar or to the casino.  He doesn’t head to another woman’s house.  He would rather be with us than anywhere else. 

I often take this fact for granted, but I shouldn’t.  The next time I grumble about not being able to make the bed because Rob’s sleeping in, I should think twice.  The next time I complain about him walking around the house in his Speedo underwear, I should think twice.  The next time he scoops coffee grinds out of the can and then puts the same spoon back in the drawer, I should think twice about complaining.  And yes, the next time he lets out a burp like a cave man, I should bite my tongue. 

For I wouldn’t trade all the snores and burps and Speedos and coffee grinds in the world for a cheater.  It’s reassuring to know that when the end of the day comes, my husband will come home.  It’s comforting to know that he is a good father to Thomas and Jacqueline.  It’s nice to know that I made the right choice:  if I had the chance to marry again, I’d pick the same groom.  Lucille can keep her Desi; I’ll keep my Rob.