The Wife's Prayer

     The Red Green Show is a comedy series we love about a lodge full of redneck Canadians. Though it has been off the air for decades, it now has its own dedicated channel on our Roku TV. At the end of the program, the men of Possum Lodge recite The Man's Prayer:

I am a man

but I can change, 

if I have to,

I guess.

 

     Sounds about right. Reed even adapted it for his phone message, I am a mechanic, but I can change . . . So I decided it was about time to come up with a prayer for women, particularly wives:

 

I am a wife

what I want can wait,

if it has to,

I guess. 

 

    Though I did not write it until today, I have been living this prayer for almost 49 years. And this next one came up when my husband started hinting about oatmeal raisin cookies while we still have two other kinds of homemade cookies in the kitchen.

 

I am your wife

what you want can wait,

till I'm ready,

I guess. 

 

     There are many differences between men and women for which I am infinitely thankful, but there are some things we have in common, such as frustration that we cannot change each other and reluctance to change ourselves. The prayers are a reminder of the differences that, strangely enough, we have in common.