Relationship Test

I just got home from, T's house and I had an interesting and wonderful evening.  

I have heard it said, one way to test the strength of a relationship is to assemble something together.  Like a grill, or a desk, or maybe even a patio swing.  You know, the kind of projects that usually involve a lot of swearing.


I showed up at his house thinking I was going to have dinner with his family.  Probably some Vietnamese delight his mother made.  When I arrived, however, I found out he was taking me out.  Apparently his mother had made something that is poison to the average white American.  He never did tell me what it was.


Anyway, we went to a local place and shared some calamari and a small wood fired pizza.  It was a nice dinner and I was really grateful to have some alone time with him.


When we got back to his house we had to assemble a swing he bought for his sister.  I knew in advance that we were going to work on that project.  I even brought my portable tool box with me.  We got started just about 8:00.  It was raining and chilly, but we were working on his back patio, which is under cover, but it was not very well lit.  The directions said it would take about 30 minutes to put this thing together.  I was skeptical, but we got started anyway.


The directions were terrible, but piece by piece and bolt by bolt, we got it all put together.  And it's straight, square and sturdy.  We worked together well and did not argue about anything.  In fact, we even got in several smooch breaks during the process.  (For the record, it took 2 hours, not 30 minutes.)


When finished, he brought his sister down to check it out.  She loved it.  When she asked how we managed to do it without arguing.  T told her, "I let Jim do all the work and he let me tell him where he was doing it wrong."  Which is kind of how it happened.  I did not make that many mistakes though.


For about 15 minutes the three of us sat on the swing.  Gently rocking, listening to the rain and the sound of the waterfall on the koi pond.  It was really nice to sit there with T and his sister.  We chatted casually about a few topics and I really felt like I was part of of the family.


I would have stayed there longer but T was getting cold, so we went inside.  His sister went up to her room and he and I were left to cuddle on the couch watching "The Golden Girl" on TV.  (Yes, I know how gay that is.)


The whole evening was perfect.  I even enjoyed building the swing with T.  The whole time I was thinking about what it would be like to build things at our house, when we have one together.