How I know she loves me

I've been married for nearly 14 years. It's amazing that it's been that long, because I remember our wedding day so clearly. I loved being married from the first day. It just felt right, like putting on a warm shirt straight from the dryer. I never really had a 7 year itch, or any real doubts about being married. The only times I question being married is those few days a month. You know which days I mean. But no matter what, I know she loves me. Let me tell you how I know.

It was just before our wedding. My sweetheart had an old beat-up Chevy Cavalier that her Dad let her drive. As he said, "It's better than walking!" But not by much. It had a lot of mechanical problems, and it took all of her Dad's significant mechanical know-how to keep it running and passing the state safety/emissions inspections.

We were at the gas station one afternoon. She had gone inside to buy something and I was filling the tank. When the nozzle shut off, I went over to put it away and replace the lid on the tank. I looked down and noticed that there was a puddle of gasoline on the ground under the car. I walked around the car and saw that enough gas had spilled to run out the other side of the car and down the cement. I was a bit worried when I knelt down and saw gas continuing to drip from the car.

I was evaluating my options when she returned. I showed her the gas and mentioned that I thought the tank might have a leak. I told her that it was more likely that the tank had overfilled and had spilled out the top by the nozzle. But the car was old and I couldn't be sure that the tank wasn't leaking.

After a few minutes I decided to move the car to see if gas had just spilled from the top and was dripping, or if there really was a leak. I told her to stand way over on the grass just in case the car blew up. I wasn't really that worried, but anything can happen with a big puddle of gas under your car.

She started to walk away, then got a scared expression on her face and ran over to the passenger side of the car to get in. She said something to the affect of, "If you're going to die, then I want to die too!"

That's how I know.