Only already

Tomorrow.

Eight years.

Simultaneously I find myself saying

 

"Eight ALREADY?!?!?"

and

"Only EIGHT???" 

 

People often comment that we still behave like newlyweds.

They envy what we have.

We often wonder to one another if other couples our age are like us.

I don't think they are. 

 

I am a people watcher.

I enjoy watching interactions and relationships.

Especially with older couples.

I notice when couples talk in a restaurant...

    and when they don't.

I notice how couples look at each other.

I notice when they hold hands or walk with arms entwined.

I notice how they touch...

    or don't.

And I've started asking.

 

"Y'all are so cute! How long have you been married?"

 

I always hope to hear 32 or 37 or 45 or 53 years.

I don't very often.

I am more likely to hear two or seven or ten years.

Occasionally I ask their story.

A very large percentage are widowed,

a few divorced,

once a first marriage for one, divorce for the other.

They are all but one people who have loved and lost.

And learned.

 

I dare say that if I pursued my questioning,

if I asked about their previous marriages,

they would each say that,

no,

their first marriages had not been as...

    noticeable.

 

We learn from loss.

I spend a lot of my time on this blog

    encouraging people not to wait for 

        the excessively expensive lesson to learn. 

But we all do to some degree.

I am -

    sadly and gladly -

a better wife to my Lanny Love than I was to my Al.

 

It feels like we have been together forever.

It feels like we are newlyweds.

It is a marvelous blend!

 

We learned.

May we never forget!