Last summer, Paul and I spent a night at his parents’ home in West Los Angeles before heading down to Newport Beach for OCON. Just shortly before we were slated to depart, I developed the worst migraine I’ve ever gotten — by far. It was unbearable. I could not do anything but lay perfectly still on the guest bed, quietly weeping from the pain. I could not even manage to get my prescription migraine medication (Maxalt) out of my purse, nor open the foil seal, nor place it on my tongue. Paul had to do that for me. As you might expect, Paul was very concerned and attentive, but he couldn’t do much.

The medication wasn’t terribly effective, but in conjunction with an ice pack, it took the edge off slightly. The migraine persisted as we left the Hsiehs to drive down to Newport Beach for OCON, then at the hotel too. We weren’t able to get into our room right away, as too many people were checking in and out at once. Eventually, we waited in the hotel’s Starbucks, where I had a frappuccino of some kind. I was feeling somewhat better, and I hoped that the combination of the cold and the caffeine of the drink would help knock out the rest of the headache. (That’s often effective.)

Happily, I was right. In fact, I was feeling much better before I even knew it. Paul noticed though. He saw that I went from quietly whimpering on a corner of the couch to talking more and more, then even cuddling and tickling and pestering him a bit. At that point, he remarked — mock-ruefully — that I must be feeling better. And he drew me the following chart:

The y-axis reads “How pestersome the woo is,” and the x-axis says “How much migraine pain she is suffering.” (I’m “the woo.”) It’s a straightforward inverse relationship!

I found the chart so damn funny that I saved it all this time. The whole incident really just typifies something about our marriage, I think. And I love it.