//HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABY!//
As of today (Thursday, April 24), the wife and I have been married four years. We’ve known good times and bad, exciting times and the mundane, mountains and valleys. Fear not, for I’m not going to write a mushy mandate about how marriage is a dream come true and everybody should run out and find a mate and a JP right now because there’s no other way to live.
No. Marriage isn’t for everyone. On some days, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be for married people, either. I will say a solid marriage to the right person is like a flowering rose bush: there are thorns, but the beautiful blooms more than make up for them.
To give you single peeps some hope and insight (beyond whatever example your dear parents presented), I have compiled three lists. The first is five great things about marriage. The second is five not-so-great things about marriage. The third list is a sure-fire way for a married person to get into serious trouble. There are many more examples, which you are welcome to share in the comments portion of our program.
THE GOOD
1. Waking up next to someone you love, every day
2. Almost never coming home to an empty house
3. Having a best friend, lover, soulmate, amateur therapist, and confidante all in one
4. Never having to date again
5. Sharing the hills and valleys and everything in between
THE BAD
1. Dealing with someone else’s underwear ... forever
2. Having to plan road trips and vacations around two jobs and a lot more luggage
3. “Sharing” a closet. I’m lucky to have room for one shirt in there
4. Something about toilet seats, but when she talks about it all I hear is “blah blah blah”
5. Loving someone so much it’s scary sometimes
THE UGLY (How to make your spouse mad)
1. Pointing out to your wife/husband all the hot chicks/guys you’d like to bang if you were single
2. Donating his tools to the war effort or giving all her shoes to charity
3. Deciding to rearrange all the furniture in the house while your beloved is out of town
4. Watering all the houseplants with beer (Or “used beer.” Nasty!)
5. Guys: acting too much like guys. Ladies: acting just like your mother or his mother
Four married years does not an expert make. Hey, I was single for 25 years and never got the hang of it entirely. But it’s a learning process that gets better if you embrace the education and put love first. You’ll get a good schoolin’, that’s for sure!
Have a great Thursday, whatever today means to you.
