To all who read it once: It deserves a second read. If you ignore ‘Charlie stared at..’ and have it start with “Her list contained…” the story is truly sad.

I thought it was fine on the first read through. The melancholic tone kind of gave away the ending for me, but that’s fine and certainly reads more consistently than doing it otherwise.

I don’t think it’s sad at all, it’s a different kind of love story. I don’t mention the years in between, their ages, the wonderful 1 or 30 years in between.

I’d like to think Mack proudly served Charlie hundreds of his mac and cheese, and Charlie ate every bite, even though it was both the best and worst she’d tasted, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

This story is based on fact. I’ve been with Duane for 7 years. He’s so proud of his mac and cheese and it’s just like Mack’s. Duane leaves the kitchen a 5-course-meal kind of mess. After I’m done choking the meal down, I clean up his mess, and love every second of it.

Also, at one time I couldn’t walk, for a month. Of course I couldn’t cook then, so his mac and cheese tasted like heaven, it meant that he still loved me and that he hadn’t lost faith in the integrity of our relationship.

The night I wrote this I was making mac and cheese, but at the last minute I turned it into an Alfredo dish. Mac and cheese is his and always will be.

Ha! I just totally missed this line, ‘On their sixth date, he’d made her dinner at his place.’ and imagined Mack was Charlie’s son. Read it with Mack being a little crippled boy – it’s sad, brother! Plus Charlie is a dude’s name so that confused me from the start. I thought some other guy was looking at her list. Thanks for the comment. I feel much better now. :)

UPDATE: Female name updated to avoid confusion as to gender.

Beautiful.

It’s still kind of bittersweet, I mean the poor guy is crippled, temporarily or permanently, and what she is doing for him is sweet. I hope he appreciates it and that she actually does make it perfectly, whether with flaws or not.