Today, I have been married to the same woman for 29 years. Can you believe that? In this day and age where everything is disposable and attention spans are decreasing, I’ve managed to find the love of my life and make quite a run at it.
Now don’t think this ride has been easy. In fact, it has been work and compromise on both of our behalf’s. It’s amazing this worked because I’ve never met two more stubborn and opinionated people in my life! But, somehow we’ve managed to learn how to accept and to learn how to come to a mutual agreement on our disagreements (Are you listening America???). Somewhere in between we loved, cried and love some more. But in the end, it was the mutual respect and the ability compromise that saw us through.
Life has gotten strange for use lately because our kids are young adults and the transition from needing us to I want to spread my wings has begun. So after all those years of energy placed on sports, projects, care, nurturing, etc. we’re left looking at each other and thinking:
1.) How the hell did that happen so fast and
2.) What the hell are we going to do now?
In addition to the kids growing, you start to realize that your time on this earth is waning and it’s more fragile then you thought all these years when you were invincible and unwavering in your belief you’d live forever. You start to lay in bed at night staring at the ceiling and thinking “How the hell am I going to convince my body to get out of this bed in AM”. You start to stress about life that has passed you by and the life that’s ahead of you. You see friends get sick and die, you see loved one’s die and your anxiety from all this goes through the roof.
However, when I look over at the woman I fell for over 30+ years ago I realize that “it’s going to be alright”. A simple touch of her hand eases my pain, a simple smile from across the room makes me feel warm inside and a simple hug eases the worry and concern.
Would I have this if I didn’t fight for our relationship and love? I honestly don’t know, but I can tell you that after 29 years of marriage she is the silence amongst the noise of life.
If anyone reads this and wonders how they can achieve love, just remember this:
“If you’re always looking past the people in front of you for the next great thing, you’ll never appreciate what you have.”