Hello, it's Lenora. Today is my anniversary. Thirty-five years with the same man! Hard to believe. I was nineteen when we got married. A year later we took our baby daughter and moved from a small town to the big city. I was young and terrified and could barely drive on the interstate. My husband was very patient with me but I think he was just as terrified as I was back then. Soon, however, I learned not only to drive all over the place but went on to realize my dream of writing books while he worked for General Motors for thirty years. We grew up together and some of those years were full of challenges and conflict. But we held on and made it through and now we've settled into a nice "dance" of sorts. We rarely fight these days but we are constantly "discussing" things. We were in Wal-Mart Saturday just to get a few items. He headed to the register, while I, of course, headed to the book section and immediately forgot time and place when I saw the first of our LIS continuity series "Protecting the Witness." Marta Perry's "Twin Targets" jumped out at me and I had to buy it. Then I saw Betsy St. Amant's second LI "A Valentine Wish." And I had to buy it. Looking longingly at the other Steeple Hill titles, I promised to be back soon. When I rushed to find my husband, he was finished checking out. So I had to get back in line. He pulled the buggy up and said "Now we're gonna get soaked." It was true. It had begun to rain outside. A woman in front of us listened to our banter:
Me--"Go and get the car and put the groceries in and pull up to the door for me."
Him--"No, I'll wait here. But I didn't know you were buying books."
Me--"I didn't know you'd be finished so soon."
Him--"It's raining."
Me--"Just go get the car. I don't want you to melt."
Woman in Line--nervously "You can take my place."
We both laughed and I told her "It's okay. We argue our way through Wal-Mart all the time." I later told my friend going to Wal-Mart is like a date for us.
And so it goes around here. I've learned to be more assertive and firm and he's learned to be more tolerant and patience. Everybody wins! (Well, most of the time. We still have little lectures about shoe shopping!)
So, what tales can you tell about "discussions" with your husband? What lessons have you learned from your happy ever after?
6 comments:
Congratulations, Lenora :) You don't look like you ARE 35 -- much less that you could've been married 35 years!
My "discussions" with my adorable Cajun typically occur on the highway, when I'm wishing the passenger floorboard had one of those brakes like the driver's ed cars ;)
He really likes it when I go to sleep and leave the driving to him.
Happy Anniversary!
Kelley
Hope you and your honey had a great day, Lenora!
Steph
Happy Anniversary!
THanks. I was actually out most of the day at a luncheon and running errands but we are going out to dinner later. And we did just buy a retirement condo in Florida, so I guess that's my anniversary gift.
Kelley, thanks for the kind words on my age. If only you knew, honey.
Congratulations, Lenora. I had to laugh when you mentioned discussions. When our kids were in high school and my husband and I had a disagreement, they would tell us to quit arguing. We would say, "We're not arguing. We're just having a discussion.
Merrilee, that's exactly what we tell our children. We had a church intern staying with us one summer and he said the same thing. He didn't like our arguments. We laughed and told him we were just discussing. He's married now so I think he's probably figured it out for himself.
Post a Comment