Lacey Gunter
Most of us like a good love story. We root for that destined couple to figure out they adore each other and we wait on bated breath for all the pieces to fall into place. Then when they are finally together and the story closes out we imagine their happily ever after.
What does happily ever after look like? Ever is sure a long time. It would be pretty boring if it were all smooth flat sailing. It pretty much demands a climb. We don't really think of that climb when we imagine what happily ever after looks like. But our imagination of that happily ever after is usually pretty short lived isn't it. If it was a really great story we might mull over it for a couple weeks, at most obsess for a couple months. But in real life, a love story that lasts a couple months isn't much of a love story.
My husband and I are about to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Fifteen sound like such a large number. Neither of us really feels that old. But both of us feel grateful the other person has stuck around that long and has continued this journey together.
Happily ever after is definitely a climb. Stagnation never feels very happy. Growth can really hurt, but pain and happiness are not mutually exclusive. Sometimes we might feel like we are dragging our partner up the hill, kicking a screaming. Other times it may feel like our spouse is so far up the slope we're not sure how we will ever catch up. But the key, to me, seems to be to just keep climbing. We are not always holding hands, in perfect step with each other. But those moments when you both reach a peak at the same time and you turn around together to see the breathtaking view are as much fairy tale as anything I know.
Here's to fifteen years....going on ever after.
Most of us like a good love story. We root for that destined couple to figure out they adore each other and we wait on bated breath for all the pieces to fall into place. Then when they are finally together and the story closes out we imagine their happily ever after.
What does happily ever after look like? Ever is sure a long time. It would be pretty boring if it were all smooth flat sailing. It pretty much demands a climb. We don't really think of that climb when we imagine what happily ever after looks like. But our imagination of that happily ever after is usually pretty short lived isn't it. If it was a really great story we might mull over it for a couple weeks, at most obsess for a couple months. But in real life, a love story that lasts a couple months isn't much of a love story.
My husband and I are about to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Fifteen sound like such a large number. Neither of us really feels that old. But both of us feel grateful the other person has stuck around that long and has continued this journey together.
Happily ever after is definitely a climb. Stagnation never feels very happy. Growth can really hurt, but pain and happiness are not mutually exclusive. Sometimes we might feel like we are dragging our partner up the hill, kicking a screaming. Other times it may feel like our spouse is so far up the slope we're not sure how we will ever catch up. But the key, to me, seems to be to just keep climbing. We are not always holding hands, in perfect step with each other. But those moments when you both reach a peak at the same time and you turn around together to see the breathtaking view are as much fairy tale as anything I know.
Here's to fifteen years....going on ever after.
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