Posts Tagged: lessons about marriage

“FORTY-FIVE YEARS OF LEARNING TO LOVE”

Today, my bride and I celebrate forty-five years of being married.  I am more in love with her than ever, more than I ever thought I could be.

I am still a beginner at this love business, but beginners can teach a lot.  So, here are some rather random thoughts about love and marriage from this beginner.

  • Love is not something you fall into.  It is a discipline to which you commit yourself, like running a marathon, but without a finish line.
  • When I am not acting or feeling lovingly toward my sweetheart, I need to change me, not her.
  • Heraclitus said, “You never step into the same river twice.”  He was right about more than rivers.  Relationships are the same.  I never wake up with the same women twice.  She has changed and so have I.  There is never a reason to get bored.
  • To restate Heraclitus, there is enough mystery and joy in every face to last a lifetime.
  • Marriages are not made in heaven.  Neither are they forged in the fires of hell.  They may be suggestive of either heaven or hell (or both), but they are built on earth.
  • Gratitude is the lifeblood of a loving relationship.  If I am not being grateful every day for this woman who has loved me all these years, I am in trouble and headed for more.
  • If I want my love to love only me, I am opting for less love, rather than more.  She loves our children and grandchildren, making lovely things, baking, flowers, serving others, our dog.  I should be glad, and most of the time I am!  The more she loves people and things other than me, the more she has love for me.
  • I also need to extend my love to others.  To limit my love to my love is to limit my love for my love.
  • Laughter is even better than making love.  Perhaps laughter is making love.
  • Sharing good memories together is wonderful.  So is sharing good forgetories.
  • The past needs to be buried quickly.  It needs to be given a decent burial, yes.  But it does need to be buried.
  • The more I love my God, the more I love my wife.  The converse is also true.

Happy anniversary, dearest.  I hope that we have many more.

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