My husband is perfect in my eyes, except for one thing: he’s incredibly absent-minded. Losing his wallet and keys is a common occurrence, but he always blames it on bad luck rather than admitting his own carelessness. Usually, I don’t bother addressing it because he often forgets whatever he promises during our arguments.

  A few days ago, I bought a fitness machine online. Both of us have reached the age where even drinking water seems to make us gain weight, so exercising is a must. When the fitness machine arrived, it was in pieces and needed to be assembled. I considered hiring someone to put it together, but my husband insisted, “We’ve got a man in the house; hiring someone would be embarrassing!” Then he got to work.

Seeing the determined look on his face made me anxious. According to my mother-in-law, he’s always loved taking things apart since he was a child but never could put them back together. I was worried he’d lose the parts and forget where he put them.

But, since he’s a grown man, I couldn’t say much. I watched as he scattered parts all over the living room. My plan to help him backfired when he accused me of getting in the way and promptly drove me to the study.

After a few hours of anxiety, I finally heard him exclaim, “It’s done!” I rushed to the living room and there it was, a beautiful fitness machine. Just as I was about to praise him, he stopped me with a red-faced, “Wait, it’s dangerous!” I looked at him curiously, wondering what could be dangerous about a fitness machine that wasn’t flammable or explosive.

Seeing my confusion, he slowly extended his hand, saying, “I ended up with an extra part and have no idea where it goes.”

I examined the part closely while he earnestly explained, “I worked so hard assembling this thing. Look, I even got blisters from tightening the screws. I never thought there’d be an extra part…”

Holding back my laughter, I looked at him and said, “Honey, this isn’t a part of the machine. It’s the small wrench for tightening the screws.”

He stared at the wrench in disbelief before finally exclaiming, “I’m so absent-minded!” Despite his confusion, I couldn’t help but feel happy. His forgetfulness, while sometimes frustrating, added a delightful touch of humor to our lives.