One Advantage of Marriage

One advantage of marriage, it seems to me, is that when you fall out of love with him or he falls out of love with you, it keeps you together until maybe you fall in again.
~Judith Viorst (HT: Semicolon Sherry).

I think that's a really great quote. Except maybe the "maybe" could be removed :-) 

I like how it hints at the commitment, the safety net of marriage, the vows of which have nothing to do with feelings, and everything to do with promised actions. I will stay, I will love (whether I feel in love at any particular moment or not), I will protect, I will serve, I will help, I will listen, I will support, I will cheer on, I will persevere, forgive, learn, honor and respect.

I miss my husband. It feels unfair to say that, when I know I have an Air Force wife reader whose husband is sometimes away for a year at a time, but I still do. He's only on a 5-night business trip -- and I sure hope the snow on the East Coast of the U.S. doesn't prevent him from arriving home on time tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to our reunion, just in time for our 19th Valentine's Day as an item.

What I've done while he's been gone:

1. I counted from eins to einhundertfünfzig (1 to 150) aloud in German while driving to my German lesson. That's the first time I've gone past about thirty, I think. A bit tongue twisterish. 

2. I asked someone in my household the ridiculous question, "What would you think about taking a shower?" and received the response, "I think that's a preposterous idea."

3. I baked a "Nutty Apple Cake."

4. Some other stuff.

About Judith Viorst, the author of the quote at the top - she's been married to journalist Martin Viorst for just over 50 years, so I'm sure she's experienced some mood swings and ups and downs over the years. She's the author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, whose narrator is a 5-year-old boy who lives with his parents and two brothers, Anthony and Nick—named for Viorst's own three sons. She also wrote a book entitled Grown-up Marriage

, and another one, People and other Aggravations (ha ha), and this funny-sounding series:

• It's Hard to Be Hip Over 30 & Other Tragedies of Married Life (1968)
• How Did I Get to Be 40 & Other Atrocities (1976)
• When Did I Stop Being 20 & Other Injustices: Selected Poems from Single to Mid-Life (1987)
• Forever 50 & Other Negotiations (1989)
• Suddenly 60 & Other Shocks of Later Life (2000)
• I'm Too Young to Be 70 & Other Delusions (2005)

I don't know anything about any of these books, but I liked the titles. Although, I'm pretty sure I have read the Alexander one, and I know that we saw the play at a community theatre in California.

Speaking of relationships, my mother alerted me to this wonderful Google commercial from the Superbowl, which I hadn't seen, and didn't even know about. I watched it three times! I got goosebumps at the end the first time, even without hearing the sounds properly. The 2nd and 3rd times I put headphones in. Seen it?

Posted via email from K's Café