Tag Archives: marriage

Trophy Husband

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Wow! Today David and I have been married for 35 years! That’s a very, Very, VERY long time.

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I think David probably deserves some kind of a large trophy (other than me, hee hee ;-)) for putting up with me for so long (would that make him a trophy husband?) but I’m going to give him this list of songs that mean something over the years. 

1. We fell in love at NTTC Corry Station. This is a place where members of all branches of the military were sent for MOS training after boot camp. Due to the average age of the residents, it earned the name Corry Junior High. We spent a lot of evenings there hanging out at the EM (Enlisted Members) Club socializing and dancing. We danced a lot to Always and Forever by Heatwave and it became our first song. 

 
2. Our second song, in the next decade, comes from Motley Crue. While I love all of the lyrics in this song, the line, “Let me be me all along” is particularly important to me. Even if I wasn’t the strong, confident person I am today, he was still always my biggest champion. “Knowing someday I’d grow strong” even if I made him crazy in the process. 

 
3. Nothing Else Matters by Metallica kind of typifies our life. “Life is ours, we live it our way.” We don’t live like other people do and you may have thought we were nuts when we decided to live in an RV in 2012 or any of the other wild and wonderful things we do. But if he wanted to go live in a box on a beach, I’d be right there beside him.  And nothing else matters. 

 4. We knew each other for around three months when we got married. “They” said it wouldn’t last, we wouldn’t make it. “They” – many of them – didn’t make it “But just look at us holding on. We’re still together still going strong” and that’s why You’re Still The One by Shania Twain is on this list. When I first heard that song I thought, holy moly, Shania Twain wrote a song about us! 


5. Nobody Does it Better by Carly Simon because, well, um, you know… the spy who loves me. 😉

6. Sister by The Nixons is about being separated. Which we are a lot. The line in this song that really does it for me is “Here we are again saying goodbye, Still we fall asleep underneath the same sky”. That thought brings me comfort when he’s so far away knowing that we look up and share the sky because half of me breathes in him.

7. Well, as you know, we now have the glambaby and we have a music CD in the car for her. When this song came on one time, David made a crack related to a particularly icky situation and now it’s an inside joke. Every time I hear this song, I laugh at the bad situation. Cool, no? 🙂

 8. I’m a big jazz fan. When I hear I Only Have Eyes For You, I think I’d like to sing that to David. But he’d probably put his hands on his ears as he ran away. 😉 In 2012, my friend Cynthia sang this song for us at a club in Tulsa. She is awesome, the song is awesome, David is awesome. I’m going to include the Ella Fitzgerald version because Ella is awesome, too. (I’m not doing very well at using other words instead of awesome, am I?)

 9. So? What ringtone do you have for your sweetie? I have Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye. The first time my phone rang like that, I was in a quiet, QUIET, clothing store. LOL! It makes me laugh every time I hear it. And it’s better than the dog barking he has for me. 😉

 10. Happy is the last song on my list. I have heard about this song for months now but never actually heard it until a few days ago. I love it. And I am clapping. We are clapping because we’re happy. I was super excited to see this song as an option at Jib Jab because it seems like a fun way to share the last song on my list. 🙂  (I cannot get this video to stay centered for the life of me. I guess it takes after me. ;-))

 So there you have it! The ten songs that remind me of our 35 year marriage. I want to wish David, the co-author of my life and the most fabulous husband a girl could ask for a very Happy Anniversary. Thank you so much for hanging out with me and not giving up when I was a crazy person. Thank you for the boys and the coffee you pour me every morning and for making me laugh. I love you beyond all reason. And that thing about living in a box on the beach above? Don’t try it, mister. 😉 

 

 

 

 

Bathroom communique’ – Part II

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If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know how much I love to laugh and to make other people laugh. I always view myself as the entertainment.

As The Rock says, “Know your role”. 🙂

So I particularly enjoyed the Bathroom Communique‘ David and I had going last week.

I didn’t think there would be time for him to answer before I left for Oklahoma but I was wrong.

I found this:

To which I replied:

And left for Oklahoma.

I got back to Little Rock, Tuesday evening. And, as of yesterday, my reply still hung on the towel rack. I was going to get rid of it but, after spending my whole life at the DMV yesterday, I was barely in the bathroom at the house.

This morning, when I went into the bathroom I saw this:

Bahahahahaha! OMG I am laughing SO hard. I don’t even have a come back for this one. But I’m heading to Oklahoma again in a little bit so I’ll have a few days to come up with one. 🙂

Our marriage secret

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Yesterday I visited one of my favorite Bartlesville destinations, the Bartlesville Public Library. There is a darling college girl who works there that I have become friendly with over the years. I think we bonded over Young Adult books. I haven’t seen her much lately because she’s now working in the reference section and I’m in and out of the library as fast as I am the grocery store even though I love it more.

Anyway, yesterday she she was at the front desk. She saw me and said, “Haven’t you been married for a long time?” I told her that yes, we have been married for almost 31 years now. She asked if we are happy. Again, I told her yes. And she asked why.

Whoa. Hmmm. On the spot. Why. Why?

I could see she really wanted the answer to this question and I didn’t want to just give her something just for the sake of saying something. I wanted it to be the answer that she wanted, the answer that would be helpful.

So I told her that David and I couldn’t be more different. Seriously, I couldn’t even come up with the words that would describe just how different that we are but I told her that we love each other and have common life goals. That we never disagreed on how to raise our kids because we share the same moral fabric, the same life plans, goals, dreams. I told her that in our difference we completely compliment each other.

I asked her if she was doing a school project and she said no, that she and her boyfriend are discussing a future. She said she has seen so many people who are miserable in their marriages and wanted to find someone who wasn’t and find out their secret. I felt honored that she would ask me such an important question.

As I was walking home, I thought a lot about our conversation and remembered a Thematic Reflection that I gave back in 2007 at Greater First Baptist Church. It contains the secret to our 28 year marriage. I have now dug that reflection out of my files and printed it for her. I’ll give it to her the next time I see her.

As I told her, it’s not always easy to be married but that anything worth having is worth fighting for. David and I have fought for what we have all these year later and we are blessed. I pray that my darling college friend is equally blessed in her life and her future marriage.