My bearded man

I've mentioned the Rad Boyfriend in passing several times on this here weblog, but I've never gotten into how we met or came to be Rad Boyfriend and Awesome Girlfriend. And I probably won't, not for a while. I am, however, dedicating this post to one of the many reasons why Rad Boyfriend is so Rad.

Several weeks ago, I hurt my back. It's unclear how exactly I hurt it, but I did. And I ignored my body for those several weeks and continued lifting heavy laundry baskets and boxes, and continued to get down on my hands and knees to scrub the kitchen floor. My body didn't like this so much, because I woke up on Sunday morning and literally couldn't move. Every motion of my body, no matter how slight, made me hyperventilate with pain. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to blink, it hurt to lay still. I somehow made it out of bed to use the bathroom, and promptly burst into tears after I laid back down in bed. This was NOT good.

I happened to be house-sitting at the time, and the owner of the house happens to be a helicopter EMT who just happens to have some pretty sweet prescription drugs in the guest bathroom. Quick lesson in whatever sort of back injury I have: PAIN KILLERS DO NOT HELP THE PAIN. Neither prescription-strength ibuprofen nor Vicodin did a thing to help ease my agony. I gimped around all day like a gimpy gimp and it was miserable.

Miserable except for one thing: Rad Boyfriend. I'd been complaining about my back for several days by that point, and he realized the magnitude of my pain when I came back to bed that morning in tears. He immediately took over, and for the next two days, he did EVERYTHING for me. He helped me get dressed, he unloaded the dishwasher, he brought me drinks and snacks, he fed the dog that he's allergic to, he went to the store for me, EVERYTHING. He even went to the airport to pick up a friend for me! If he saw me lean towards the coffee table, he asked what I wanted and got it for me. When I dropped my phone (or glasses or remote control) he picked it up for me. He even spent an extra night with me knowing he'd have to wake up early the next morning to go home and get ready before work. And at the end of that day? He came back with my favorite snacks. He loaded the dishwasher and did the dishes and fed the dog. He had dinner with me, we watched a movie together, and when it was time for him to go home, he checked all the windows, locked the doors, tucked me into bed, and told me to call him in the morning if I needed anything.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Reason Number 970,687 why Rad Boyfriend is so Rad.