I don’t share a whole lot about my personal life, but I have to brag … I mean, share this story. 😉

Let me begin by explaining that I am about as patient as a kid at Christmas. Pining, peeking, fidgeting, whining, heavy sighs … you get the picture. Once I see something I love, I want it NAO!

Well, at the end of summer, Kroger debuted these adorable clay owl lanterns . So adorable that I didn’t even care they were already promoting Fall merchandise in August! My life would not be complete without an owl lantern!

Clay Owl Lantern

My sweet, sweet husband, however, cannot stand that kind of pushy commercialism.

“Just wait a few weeks. It’s still summer!”

“We’ll get them next trip. We don’t have room,” he said a few weeks later.

Two weeks go by. We need groceries again. My excitement level is off the charts! We park the car and walk to the front of the store where the owls had been cutely displayed amidst wood crates and corn husks.

Bum, bum, buuuuum! They are ALL GONE except for two sad owls missing their feet. 😦 I don’t know who felt worse, me for this great disappointment, or my husband for the miserable shopping trip that followed. Even though the manager said they would try to order more, there was not a single owl on the next trip.

The autumn solstice passes. It’s Fall now. Kroger has a brand new batch of pumpkin lanterns. No owls. I’ve pouted my fill by now, and I decide it’s time to get over it.

Fast forward to this weekend. We walk up to Kroger, and a dozen beautiful owl lanterns are waiting for me!!! I pick out the very best one, no scratches or cracks or missing feet. Oh, the joy! I cannot wait to get home and place my owl at the bottom of our front steps.

We pull up into the driveway, and my door is open before the car is even in park! I lift out my owl, squealing with glee, only to realize one of his feet is missing. Somewhere between loading him into the grocery cart and unloading him from the car, his foot has been amputated. 😦

Well, the look on my face must be pretty pitiful because my husband spends the next 15 minutes searching the car for that tiny, clay owl foot. When he comes inside, he looks sadder than I do. I ask him what’s wrong.

“It made you so happy to finally get one. Now it’s broken. And now you’re sad.” My heart melts into a sappy puddle at his feet.

“I’ll take it back on my way to tennis practice and exchange it for a new one that has feet.” And he really did go get a new one! He even wrapped up the owl and put it in the passenger’s side of the car to protect it!

At the end of it all, I’m glad I had to wait to get the owl. And I’m glad that the owl broke. It was all worth it for that little reminder that I have the most amazing husband in the world.

And that is owl I need. 😉