This is what true love tastes like

An agricultural fence builder AND a baker. How many men possess such dichotomous talents? Not many. Jake baked me this carrot cake for my birthday……and he did it even though there was a tiny shard of metal in his eye, the result of shaving metal without wearing protective eyewear while working yesterday.

As he slathered on the cream cheese-sour cream frosting, I could see that his eye was swollen and red and watering profusely. It was obvious he was in great discomfort, yet he refused to let me help him with the dinner prep.

Throughout the meal — eaten by candlelight in the gazebo — he kept squeezing his eyes shut, wiping the water trickling from his pupil and otherwise gazing into his napkin. I offered to clean up, but he kept saying, ‘It’s your birthday. You’re not supposed to clean up on your birthday.’ After he washed the last dish, he was in bed and asleep within 5 minutes, dosing fitfully.

This is classic Jake:  soldiering on despite discomfort, never once complaining. I’m not sure why he does this. It’s just who he is. Me, I would have been crying — there would have been no “it’s just my eye watering” about it.

And the cake? Hoo boy, was it delicious. (FYI, the number 2 signifies the number of birthday cakes he’s baked …. we’ve been married two years.) Even though he did it with only one eye open, he couldn’t resist tinkering with the recipe by substituting ginger for the customary nutmeg, which gave it a wonderful, almost citrus flavor.

It was without a doubt the best carrot cake I’ve ever eaten….and I’m not even saying that because my name was on it and he did it with a piece of metal in his eye.