Sandy Supposes....

42 Years Of Wedded Virtues

July 22nd Prompt: Make a list of the top five most important virtues and why.

         

         

          Well, today is an auspicious occasion. For 42 years, hubby and I have been a married couple. We both took the plunge at the age of nineteen. Ack! That's a lifetime ago. For some reason the lyrics of a Sonny and Cher song are tumbling in my brain. "I got you babe." Strange, 'cause we do not refer to each other by cutesy names. It's not as if either one of us could be called a prize, but I believe we won some kind of lottery. We remain together and it's not because we felt coerced, or because we settled. We are friends as well as life partners. Oh, wait, I'm hearing more sappy love song lyrics. "Just the two of us..." I'm certain my hubby is not singing Elton John's ' The Bitch is Back.' Then again he's rolling along a highway in Indiana and I'm not.

         Okay, enough of the digression. Virtues? There are many in the complex make-up of a marriage. Hmmm... I'll pick patience, love/loyalty, flexibility, trust, and respect/reliability for forty-two years, Alex. They are a winning combination.

         I am not claiming that marriage is all roses, sunshine and chocolate. It is real, intense work. We are two different personalities agreeing to live together in relative harmony. We have thorns. We have varying tolerances to direct heat and dazzling light. We cannot always respond to sweetness in predictable ways.

         After all these years, and each one is significant, we have learned to draw upon wells of patience and flexibilty we never dreamed we carried within us. At times, we have agreed to disagree. Tongues have been bitten in frustration. Cooling off periods are necessary. We retire to our own corners to ponder and breathe. It is possible for both of us to be right, or for both of us to be wrong. We are perfectly imperfect.

         We share mutual love, trust and respect. We know what it is to pack up our kids, our pets, and all of our possessions to move to a new town and start over. We relied upon our relationship. We believed it could be possible and we made it happen. We were a team, a family. We've weathered career changes. Accidents and health scares were not insurmountable.

          We have never been afraid to laugh. Humour has been a weapon, a balm, a crutch, and a sturdy building block.I'm anticipating at least another forty-two years together. Anything is possible.