A Little Love Story

When I first met my husband twenty three years ago, he brought me a flower every day for a year. A few years later we were married and he would leave love notes hidden in various places like the refrigerator or in the closet. I loved getting those notes. He sang to me and made me handmade cards. We talked for hours on end. The years went by and four kids later it seemed we no longer had time for one another. He would leave early in the morning and by the time he got home at night I would be off driving kids to after school activities, etc. We rarely had time to talk and when we did squeeze in a moment, it was about bills or other problems. Sadly, the years seemed to sweep by in a hazy blur. Before long, the oldest left for college, and then six years later, two more kids were getting ready to go and that’s when my husband started to panic. I could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. For twenty years we lived and breathed kids. And now they were leaving, which meant he would be left with the youngest child and ME. He doesn’t like being alone. I do. I am an introvert. I am a writer. I hardly ever get bored. But I had been studying positive thinking and all that jazz and I knew my husband needed me. We started talking about goals and dreams, something we hadn’t done in years. It was strange at first, and then exciting when I realized we were still following the same path. We’re both determined to go into our fifties happy and healthy. He has three years to go. I have two. We exercise every day and we look forward to spending time together. We started grocery shopping together, something we never did before. We go out more and we laugh lots. We hug. We kiss. We hold hands. We play loud music and dance. I’ve been hiding love notes in his lunch. Oh, yeah, and the kids. The older three are still coming and going. They still have loads of drama and financial needs and relationship woes, and although my husband and I are there for them and always will be, we no longer allow their lives to consume our every moment. We’re too busy falling in love all over again.

posted by Theresa Ragan @ 8:54 AM