The Princess Bride

There is a line in the 1987 movie, The Princess Bride, which I have never forgotten. When Buttercup pushes Westley down a mountainside, he tumbles down the steep incline saying as he rolls and rolls, "As you wish..." which really meant, "I love you." He did indeed love her, and when she heard those words she knew he was her beloved farm hand, not the Dread Pirate Roberts he pretended to be. As you wish...I love you...Today, letting the three words play across my tongue, I imagined ways I could repeat that line. Like when someone asks you to go shopping and all and you want to do is recline on the sofa and read a good book. My higher self would get up off the couch and go to the mall. As you wish. A radiant sunset begins its descent, the beauty holding your breath hostage. You clasp the hand next to yours, giving it a gentle squeeze. As you wish. A neighbor takes ill and is recuperating in a nursing home. You water two lawns instead of one. As you wish. The storms of life cause you to stumble, and your world is turned inside out like a reversible poncho. When you cry out in despair, a vision of two arms raised and a crown of thorns blankets your eyes. I love you. In the movie, when the grandson asks the grandfather to return the next day and re-read the story, The Princess Bride, the grandfather replies, As you wish. In my imagination, the grandfather revisits as often as he is asked, and in a gentle yet excited tone, he repeats the same lines as if the boy had never heard the tale before.