Thursday, January 7, 2016

Countdown to Retirement

It seems that not long ago, my beloved and I were counting down from five years. I made a 60-month calendar with anticipated milestones that we might reach as we approach a day we can both be home, enjoying our lives together.

Suddenly, my brain's extensive music file has selected a Motown 45 which drops down onto the turn-table of my internal juke box: Diana Ross and the Supremes are singing,"Someday, we'll be together; yes we will."

Time, as it tends to do in retrospect, went by quickly during those first twelve months, and here we are, in January, at four years and counting...The important thing is not just to survive it. Not just to make the best of it. No, my intention is to thrive in the face of challenge. I dare myself to make it work. I double dare me.

I will journal our efforts to make a four-year separation something we will look back on with humor and with appreciation. Surely, there are other marriages which face similar challenges. Perhaps I will hear from other women with suggestions on how they withstand such trials.

I read that many marriages have endured lengthy separations. Consider Napoleon and Josephine. The day after their wedding, he left for battle. Hey, my husband left the day after our wedding too. What did Josephine do all those months he was away? She created a life for herself.

Marriage has to be one of the most difficult, yet rewarding, relationships that exist. It is to my benefit to do my best to keep the romance alive.

Did I say, "romance"? What does romance look like at nearly 60 years of life and 6 degrees of winter chill? It takes a tone of playfulness.

She:"Would you object if I wear socks to bed?"
He: "No, it's fine."
She "How do you feel about mittens?"
He: (a moment of silence)
He: "What about your cold nose?"
She: "A ski mask?"

No comments:

Post a Comment