Ready to be swept away

My grandmother sent me a copy of The Pioneer Woman's book, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, about her courtship and first year of marriage to her husband, and I pretty much devoured it.

I read a lot of chick lit love stories, but this is a totally different love story. I loved the story of a courtship that involved little drama, no games and a true gentleman. She was a city girl who was swept off her feet by a cowboy.

What I loved is the way Marlboro Man, Pioneer Woman's name for her husband, took charge in every situation. Pioneer Woman said in the book she mostly found herself speechless because he always said just the right thing that didn't need anything else. And she never wondered when he would call because he always did.

As I read this book, I wondered (1) if there are still guys out there that are like this and (2) if I'm willing to be swept off my feet. I hope the answer to the first question is yes and that there is one for me and all of my single friends.

In answer to the second question, I've said before that my desire is to get married and have a family, but I'm also enjoying life in the meantime. In my heart, I do want to be swept off my feet, but I have also created a life where I am extremely independent. And when I find myself in a relationship, I feel I need to assert this independence, so it makes me wonder if this would stand in the way of the whole being swept away thing.

But on Sunday morning, I walked outside to drive to church and discovered I had a flat tire. Standing there looking at it, I knew I could easily be swept off my feet if the guy is willing to deal with all car problems and keep them from ever being an inconvenience to me.*

There's obviously more to it than that, but it made me agree with my grandmother, who wrote in a note with the book, "Hope you find your Marlboro Man."

*I have to note that I resolved this flat tire with no tears and was only inconvenienced for a total of 30 minutes to put air in the tire and later have a nail removed and the tire plugged. But previous car incidents and flat tires (I've had many) have not been dealt with so calmly. I think the Honda service department in south Georgia flagged me as "emotionally unstable" in their files after my meltdown over a wheel key because they walked on eggshells every time I was in there after that.