Thinking Back

Since Monty and I have had these past (almost) six weeks with many hours of being together alone,(refer back to Older Posts "Through the Valley of the Shadow"Mar 11-26) I have reflected back to our courtship and marriage before children, which was from 1964-1969. We met on a blind date (blind to me, not him) the first Sunday of my freshman year at college. Within two months we were committed to each other in a dating relationship and then married in 1966. And in those years and the first two of our married life (the third year he was flying helicopters in SE Asia) we spent a lot of time alone, talking, praying, playing......... just enjoying each other immensely.

And just today,when we were going to our second grocery store, we were talking about how much we have enjoyed spending all of this time together in his recovery from his recent heart attacks. He is getting closer to being able to drive alone and be on his own again, and I asked him if he will be glad to have that freedom from me. His reply, "Not at all!! I will miss you. I like to be with you!!"

My encouragement to those of you who are marred is to take time to be alone with each other ~ doing things you enjoy ~ even while you are busy with your "family things". Monty and I made it a habit to get away for a week-end every six months........just to keep our friendship vibrant and alive. We couldn't afford to go anywhere nice and that was not the point. It was just to connect in a relaxing setting without being interrupted. We usually swapped baby-sitting week-ends with other families. (Some got jipped because we had four children and they only had two or three!!!)

Several times we have commented on how thankful we are that we love each other so much and how hard this whole trial would have been if we did not enjoy each other's company. It is a great thing to be married to my best friend!!!