This is Part Four of the You Were So Brave to Tell Me series.
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Yes, just let us out right here. Thank you.
[firm] No, there’s no need to come with us.
Look around. The park is empty!
I appreciate your concern, I really do. But it’s our anniversary, and my husband and I are going for a walk.
On our own.
[lighthearted] Look, it’s our 25th anniversary. So after this, you won’t have to let us go for another 25 years.
Okay?
All right, we’ll see you then. Thank you!
[sound of car door opening]
Oh, sweetheart, hand me that little box, will you?
Don’t want to forget that!
[sound of car door closing]
[playful] Well! Nobody told me being a governor meant going back to having a babysitter all the time!
I know, I know.
I was teasing.
He’s just doing his job.
[brief laughter]
But I am going to try to talk him down to every five years, instead of every 25!
[romantic] After all, you know what tends to happen when I take you for a walk in this particular park.
[playful] Especially on . . . Gorgeous Husband Appreciation Day.
[big, hearty laugh]
No, I’m telling you, this is absolutely the year when the greeting card companies are going to pick it up.
I’ll make some phone calls.
I’ll have my people call their people.
[another big, hearty laugh]
[romantic] Or maybe it’s better if we keep it all to ourselves.
After all . . . now that I’m a bigshot . . . there are no more rules on Gorgeous Husband Appreciation Day.
We’re too old for rules, anyway.
Oh, okay, okay.
*You’re* too old for rules, anyway!
[big, hearty laugh]
Oh, I’m sorry, not “old.” What’s the term?
“Distinguished.”
Yes, we’ll stick with that.
[sigh]
You truly are distinguished, you know.
Look at all you’ve done.
Remember when you started that tiny project in that little community center?
Just to help a few people who’d been abused?
Now you’ve got chapters in all fifty states . . . and closing in on a hundred cities.
And you’re actually seeing the number of people you help finally going down.
Because we’re winning.
Because the world is changing.
Those days we spent . . . volunteering in the community center . . . it feels like a million years ago.
There were so many people back then who didn’t know how to get help.
Who couldn’t even imagine that anyone would help.
A lot of them didn’t even know they were being abused.
Abuse felt “normal” to them.
Abuse was normal. For so, so many people.
And just look how far the world has come.
[playful] No, no! None of that, now.
Twenty-five years . . . and I still haven’t taught you how to accept credit for your own accomplishments?
Yes, of course I know a lot of other people worked for this, too.
Including a certain beautiful, amazing wife of yours!
But tell me: When there’s an abuse case in the news, whose wirebox gets the first e-wires from the newsbrokers?
It was you who built this new world we’re living in, and everyone knows it.
A world where victims get help, and abusers get justice.
The plane that flew us here had a big crew, but you were the pilot.
My brave, beautiful man.
[playful] Now then!
There may be no rules any more on Gorgeous Husband Appreciation Day, but you still get three surprises.
Just like last time.
No, actually, the box isn’t one of them.
The box is something else.
[playful] You’ll see!
I hope the three surprises you’re getting today . . . work out as well as that ring you’re still wearing.
[pause while he speaks]
[playful] Oh, you don’t fool me for a second.
I know you don’t need it for comfort any more.
But it’s sweet that you still wear it . . . for me.
[laughing] And if you want to pretend that isn’t why you still wear it . . . your secret’s safe with me.
You know you’re always safe with me, sweetheart.
Ready for your first surprise?
I had a strategy meeting with Fellipe, Rachael and Will last week.
Next spring, at least four states are going to pass new laws modeled on our Abuse Accountability Act.
Maybe as many as nine, if things break our way.
Those Denhollander Institute conferences we‘ve been flying around to speak at really had a huge impact.
And of course, it didn’t hurt that my last reelection was a blowout!
That Peters creep tried running against us on this issue, and I sent him back to his sketchy law firm with his tail between his legs.
Nobody wants to get tagged as “soft on abuse” now!
They’re all running for cover.
Check this out: Next week John Chambers is going to give an address at the state capitol to introduce their bill.
Want to hear what the big line from his speech is going to be?
“It doesn’t matter if you run a business, a school, a church, a nonprofit or a government agency. If you use your position to shelter abusers, you will be unmasked, you will be tried, and you will pay your debt to society. Every last penny!”
That “every last penny” line is going to be all over the wires.
[proud] Yeah, okay, I may have helped him write it.
The world is changing. We are really making a difference.
And it was your strength that started it all.
It was you who set me on this path.
Your strength gave me strength.
Yes, I know, I helped you a lot, too.
But I don’t think you ever understood how much you helped me.
I never told you this . . . in fact, until recently, I never realized it myself.
It was you who showed me that my gift for empathy was meant for bigger things.
I always knew I was better than most people at . . . understanding the heart.
Until I found you, I sometimes used that to help people . . . people who needed a little more insight.
But I also used it to protect myself.
I helped the people I knew, in the only way I thought I could.
Helped them learn how to take care of themselves.
But I never let myself get attached to anything that might actually challenge me.
Or make demands on me.
I took such good care of myself . . . that I was alone.
And I never built anything.
I never looked up from my cozy little empathetic life to see that there was a whole hurting world out there.
And then I met you.
And I saw how you had survived . . . survived a kind of suffering I could barely imagine.
And not just survived! You had so much strength!
You were such a warrior, fighting for the things you believed in . . . giving your whole self to the struggle for a better world.
You! The one person who had every excuse to stay home and bottle yourself up!
It was amazing!
Of course, you also needed a lot of emotional growth.
[playful] Face it, sweetheart, you were pretty lost until I came along!
But remember that letter you wrote me?
About what I would need to be ready for, if I were to . . . make a commitment to someone who was struggling with trauma?
You were thinking about me, and my needs.
Not just you, and your needs.
I could never have helped you if you hadn’t already come so far on your own.
Helping you grow was what made me realize . . . my gifts could be used for so much more than I had ever dreamed.
And seeing you fight, and build, and lead people made me realize how small my own life had become.
And now . . . here we are.
Just think! The whole world is changing, because 25 years ago, you wrote me a letter.
And I gave you a ring.
[laughing] And then you gave me a ring!
I have to admit, I like this one much better.
[kissing]
Ooh, perfect timing.
Looks like we’ve arrived at our spot.
[romantic] This is where I lead you away . . . off the path.
Hey, gorgeous, I’ve been leading you off the path for 25 years.
Have I ever led you wrong?
[big hearty laugh]
[playful] Oh, no, we don’t talk about that! That never happened.
Nope! You imagined it.
You know, I hear that as you get more . . . “distinguished” . . . your memory can start to get unreliable.
Uh-huh.
Okay, elderly man, here we are.
You sit right here with me.
[romantic] In our little spot. Where no one can find us.
It’s just you, and me, and those gorgeous eyes of yours.
[sigh]
When I sit here and look in your eyes . . . it’s like we’re still back then.
No governors’ mansion, no swarms of newsbrokers.
Just two crazy, messed-up kids in love.
[kiss]
Second surprise.
Are you ready?
I made my decision.
[excited] Yes! I’m going to do it!
I’m going to run.
For the biggest desk of them all.
The fundraising numbers are there, Zoe is willing to run the campaign, Will said his people would support us, and my advisers are all saying yes.
I’m going to run to become the first woman president.
Sweetheart, thank you for always supporting me.
I know this will be really hard on you.
You’ve sacrificed so much already, so I could come this far.
Even now, after all these years, I know you’re still healing.
Being in the spotlight hasn’t made it easier.
And our kids – they won’t be able to stay totally out of it, either.
But we’ve raised them well, and they’re strong.
You really were every bit the amazing dad I said you would be!
I really think this run is the right thing to do.
And I’m so, so grateful to you for supporting me.
You’ve always supported me.
Even when you first reached out to me for help, in that letter . . . you did it to support me.
I still have the letter, by the way.
Just like you still wear that ring.
I’ve cherished it, all these years.
And . . . here’s another little item from the past.
In the box.
Open it!
[singsong voice] “I’ve got cupcakes!”
Remember?
That time we stayed up all night . . . eating cupcakes with Joyce and Michael?
He ended up going out to the convenience store twice in the middle of the night.
To keep the cupcakes coming!
That was the night I told you . . . that I had saved my love for you . . . because you were the strongest, bravest man I’d ever known.
And you know what?
You may be . . . “distinguished” . . . but you’re still that strong, brave man I fell in love with.
Most things get weaker when they age, but every year you get stronger.
And I love you more.
And guess what?
[playful] It turns out I’m not old at all!
[romantic] So come here . . . and get your third surprise.