Marriage

Tonight we celebrate our eighth wedding anniversary. I find it a little unbelievable that it has been eight years already. Most of the time, it feels as if we are still stumbling through those early newlywed days!

As I was purchasing my husband's anniversary card this week, the cashier (who I will tell you, didn't look a day over 18) noticed it and asked how long we had been married. When I told her eight years, she looked surprised and offered her congratulations on staying together so long. When I responded with a thank you and told her that eight years wasn't really very long at all, she told me that aside from her grandparents, she didn't know of anyone else in her family that had been married so long. That definitely gave me a reason to pause and think.

I myself came from a divorced home, but as it wasn't very common in our area, most of my friends had married parents. As I grew older, it seemed as if an epidemic had hit society, and people's parents were splitting all over the place, but by no means had it become so common that it drew no comment. Now, it seems that things have swung around completely.

The fact that marriage, and not divorce, is now the novelty makes me very sad, but it also makes me realize just how lucky I am to have a husband that is worth being married to. We do not have a rosy, make-believe kind of love. Our marriage, like all marriages, is hard work, and work that must be attended to every day. But the fact of the matter is, it is worth the effort.

The fulfillment and happiness that my marriage brings me is worth all of the little petty annoyances that pop up when you live with a person 24/7. The stability and support that I receive from my husband is something that was sorely lacking in my own childhood. I only wish that more people would take their marriages seriously and put the effort required into them. Marriage can be such a good thing!