Monday, December 1, 2008

Celebrating Marriage!


Show of hands, how many of you had to drag your butt into work today? It sucks, huh? My husband just left for a convention for three days, so I spent last night ironing clothes and getting him packed. I hate it when he leaves. I always feel disconnected and lost. Somehow I forget how to do pretty much everything and all I want is to have him back home with me. It makes me sound lame probably, but there you have it. It's only been a few hours and already I miss him.

However, will life stop and let me mope? Not a chance. Edits still need turned in, laundry still needs done, kids still need to eat. I have one hundred and one things to deal with and that's just today's list. What do I say to all that? Thank God! I'm so glad I won't have idle hands while he's away. The best way to deal with missing the other half of my heart is to stay busy. I plan to use my time wisely and get my current work in progress finished. Even go do some early Christmas shopping with the kids. What won't I do? Sleep. I can never sleep when he's away. I don't know what it is really. It's the same bed as ever, but I'll just lay there and count the hours.

I was thinking back to when we first met and I remembered a lot of folks saying we'd never make it. It's funny to me now because we're probably more in love than ever. We've grown and matured. We enjoy each other's company, know what the other is thinking, and we're thankful we stuck it out and stayed together. There were times we didn't think we'd ever get to this point. Times when we were this close to calling it quits. I can't imagine what my life would be like today without him in it.

Finding love isn't easy. Finding your other half is even harder. Keeping it all from unraveling is easily the most difficult part of loving someone. My mom once said that when you love someone, you love them completely, the good and the bad. I know what that means now. I'd give anything to have him in the kitchen right now, making a mess for me to clean up, rather than hundreds of miles away stuck in a meeting.

So, to all the wives and husbands out there, going the extra mile to keep it all from unraveling, I salute YOU!!

12 comments:

Regina Carlysle said...

What can I say? 26 years together and counting. He's on the road often and I always miss him.

Anonymous said...

Excellent post today Anne. Sweetie could probably relate a great deal to your position today. There were many times when she'd wave me off at the pier and have to fend for herself till I got back. She's a tough woman and after more than 25 years together, I wouldn't trade one moment of our time together.

Turn about is fair play and I found out what she went through all those years ago. She worked so very hard to give her father a quality of life, that there were many weeks where I lived alone. If we had not put so much work into our marriage and relationship from the start, I don't think we would have survived the last 4 years.

I've known this wonderful woman now for almost 28 years. We've gotten a little rounder, a little softer, and I, a little grayer. It has not been perfect and we never expected to be so. We've worked very hard at our marriage and have impressed a number of people with our devotion and commitment to each other. Like you, there were many people that said it would never last.

We've gotten the last laugh on all of them.

Kelley Nyrae said...

I'm lucky enough that my hubby hasn't really had to work out of town. He's done it once and I missed him. I don't sleep if he's not here though. Its very hard.

Great post today!

Sophia Danu said...

I understand. My guy and I have been together eighteen years now. I've actually reached the point where I have lived with him longer than I've lived without him. :) I enjoy the occasional girls weekend or time spent away now and then, but I definitely love the return. Great blog!

Mona Risk said...

Great post. I have been married for almost forty years. My husband spent twenty-five years traveling two weeks per month for business. We didn't have time to argue and used every minute together in a positive way. I missed him terribly when he was away but honestly everytime he returned from a trip it was honeymoon all over. And then I started traveling for my company. We timed our trips and met in Paris, and it was even better. Thank God the children were already in college.

Anne Rainey said...

Regina--With luck and a lot of work, we'll make it 26 yrs. too!

Dr. Karl--I admire your wife for her dedication to her father. And you for supporting her through it all. When my father-in-law fell ill and could no longer take care of himself, I saw a side of my mother-in-law that made me respect her all the more. She was forced to be the strong one, to take over the running of the house, the bills, working full time, all the while taking care of him. That went on for years, and though we kids helped whenever we possibly could, it was her love for her husband that made me see what marraige is really all about. Through sickness and health truly sank in as I watched her. I only hope I'll have that kind of strength, should the need ever arise!

Anne Rainey said...

Kelley--you deal with a lot without him going away on trips considering he works so many hours. That can really take a toll on a marriage, but you two seem to keep it all together somehow and I respect that!

Sophia--Sometimes a girl's weekend or night out, can make us love them all the more. That little bit of time away can help us to appreciate things more, I think.

Anne Rainey said...

Mona--wow, forty years. I love it! And Paris, how romantic is that?! I want to visit Paris someday. Who knows, it could still happen! :)

Susan Macatee said...

Boy, you just said exactly how I feel! I've been married to the same man for 26 years and don't know what I'd do without him. We've raised three sons together, and shared so much over the years. The funny thing is when I first met him, I felt like I already knew him. I was kind of spooky, but I knew he was the one. And, even though he annoys me at times, I do miss him when he goes away. And our love just keeps growing stronger each and every year that passes.

anny cook said...

Well, forty one years in a couple of weeks. We've had all sorts of stuff. He worked nine months in Dallas while I lived in Houston with the four kids. A couple years later he worked almost two years in Boston while I lived in New York with the four kids.

Now they're all out on their own and its just the two of us. Sometimes I think that couples forget that the day will come when the kids are all gone and the marriage reverts back to the original two. Hopefully when that point is reached, there's still a relationship to celebrate!

Desirée Lee said...

Add my salute to yours Anne. I obviously don't know the trick to making a marriage last or else I wouldn't be divorced now.

Who knows if I'll get a chance to figure it out someday and try again? Maybe, maybe not.

Carpe Noctem,
Des

Desirée Lee
Putting the Romance Back in Necromancy
http://www.desireelee.com

Anne Rainey said...

Des, being divorced doesn't mean YOU did something wrong, it simply means it didn't work out. When my brother got divorced it was hard on me, because I blamed her. She wanted to leave him and I couldn't understand that. But he's ten times happier now and so is she. They both found someone who gets them. :)