My husband wakes up at 4:30 AM every morning to go to work at his job in construction. Every morning he awakes looking tired and exhausted. His average sleep time every night is approximately 6 hours…if he’s lucky. He commutes an hour to work and an hour back everyday.
My husband’s job is hard on his mind, spirit, and body.
His job is hard on his mind as it is full of deadlines and critical thinking. Try doing that on six hours of sleep every night!
His job is hard on his spirit as he is always tired and working overtime, at least 10 hours a day, five days a week.
But most of all, his job is hard on his body. He has come home with multiple cuts, bruises, and a variety of other colorful wounds.
But my husband gets up to go to work every single day. No matter how tired or exhausted he is, when his alarm goes off at 4:30 AM, he always gets up and gets ready for work. He drives an hour in the dark and is punched in before most people have even had their first alarm go off. He works at a job where he smashes his hands, cuts himself accidentally, and does a blue collar job that most people won’t do. And after all this, at the end of the day, exhausted and tired, he still comes home with a smile on his face because he is happy to see me. After all that he goes through, he can still be his happy, positive, loving self for me when he gets home from a job that takes everything out of him.
And he does it all for me. He gets up and goes to work to a job that slowly chips away at him, all because he wants to build a strong foundation for us. He goes so we can have nice vehicles, a nice place to live, and food on the table. He goes so that he can support me and give me the things he knows I want. He goes so we can put money in our savings to prepare for raising a family someday. Not only did he work hard to support us while I was a full-time nursing student, he also managed to work hard enough that he was able to give me the wedding I always dreamed of and the wedding ring I thought was out of reach.
My husband works at a job that makes his hands look dirty and beat up. Some of his fingers are angled funny because they’ve been broken so many times. His fingernails are short and packed with dirt and grease that will probably never come out no matter how many times he scrubs his hands. His joints are swollen from the constant strain they are under as they are overworked.
Sometimes, admittedly, I get angry that my husband works a job where he gets so dirty. Especially when he comes home and greasy clothes get put on the floor and greasy dirty boots get walked across the clean floors. And then, I have to wash his greasy dirty work laundry in our brand new washer and dryer and scrub the floors clean. But as I am cleaning out the washer and dryer after washing his extremely dirty work laundry, I remember the key point here. We are fortunate to have floors under our feet for me to clean. Our washer and dryer is brand new. And the reason we have a Samsung frontload washer and dryer is because he worked so hard to provide it for us.
When we go on a date and my husband is freshly showered, clean-shaven, and dressed-up, most people would have no idea that he is a blue collar worker. At the end of a date, when he goes to pay the check, sometimes he gets a weird look from the waiter/cashier because his hands are so dirty and rough.
People may judge him for the way that his hands look, but I don’t know what it feels like to have people judge me for the way my hands look. I am a nurse. My hands are always clean and (usually) without visible flaw. I get manicures occasionally to “improve” the look of my hands.
Some people might see my hands holding my husbands and instantly make judgments.
Although my husband’s hands may have many flaws, I wouldn’t change a single thing about them. For starters, my hand fits perfectly in his when I need the reassurance of my best friend.
His hand fits perfectly on my face when he gives me a kiss before and after work.
His hands wrap around me perfectly when I need a hug or a shoulder to cry on.
The best part about my husband’s hands?
His hands look like this:
So that mine can look like this:
To my hubby: I know I don’t say it enough. Thanks for everything you do for us. I love you to the moon and back!
Think positive,
Rachel
Positively Rachel 