Hungry Heart

Within the last couple weeks, my Beloved and I have learned about friends (long married) who have divorced. Each time news of this sort reaches us, we tend to react as we would to a death. It’s painful and wrenching … and we’re not even the ones who are experiencing it firsthand! But make no mistake, like ripples on a pond, the effect is still profound.BROKEN

Long ago, I learned one never knows what goes on in relationships. People who appear to have splendid relationships when they’re in public may be fighting like the proverbial cats and dogs when they’re behind closed doors. Who would know, unless they accidentally broke cover at one social situation or another?

When you love both people, once a confirmed married couple, it’s hard to know how to react. Of course, you wish them well … you hope they find a measure of solace in the midst of difficulties … you grieve for their children. (I mentioned some of this in yesterday’s post.) And truthfully, you wouldn’t really want to know the sordid details, whether their conflicts built up over decades or only in recent months, what made them decide to call it quits. It’s awkward though, the next in-person meeting … is communicating your sympathy appropriate? Or maybe you just avoid possible meetings simply because you don’t know what to say or how to act? Continue reading “Hungry Heart”

The Best . . . Yet To Be!

Couples2In his poem Rabbi Ben Ezra, poet Robert Browning began with these words:

    Grow old along with me!
    The best is yet to be;
The last of life, for which the first was made;
    Our times are in his hand
    Who saith, “A whole I planned.
Youth shows but half; trust God:  see all, nor be afraid!”

While the rest of the poem would not be considered a romantically inclined work, those memorable opening lines seem entirely apropos within the context of soul-mates pledging their lifelong devotion. I’ve always loved these lines and considered them a measure for what I wanted my marriage to be!

Return with me momentarily to December 20, 1969 … There’s a small gathering in a small church building in a small town in Arkansas. On that day, my Beloved and I celebrated our wedding day! Wow! So young! So crazy in love! So terribly naive! Today, we’re forty-four years married.

Together, my Beloved and I grew up … we thought we were adults when we married, but as with so many other things, we were grossly misinformed! We finished school (undergrad and masters for him, undergrad for me), expanded our educations just through daily living and some seemingly hopeless struggles, endured both the joys and heartaches attached to parenting four children, and now … we’ve grown old(er) together, enjoying this adventure of God’s goodness and mercy, while humbly anticipating what lies ahead.

This week, our eldest grandson (22) told me what he has observed about marriage:  the people who stay married are the ones who commit (long before tying the knot) to stay married regardless, no matter what.

I agree. Occasionally, I joke with people about my pragmatic outlook … I’ve invested too much time civilizing one husband; why would I ever want to start over? In truth, I can’t imagine wanting to spend a day of my life without him. He made my heart go pitter-pat when we’d known each other only a short time … and that’s still true today, more than forty-four years after our first introduction.

This sonnet pretty much sums up how smitten I was, how smitten I am, and how smitten I expect to be, for all the future years God allows us to walk hand in hand on this plane.

Term-Of-Endearment, love poem, love, anniversary, marriage, sonnet, poetry, poem
Sonnet: Term Of Endearment

Considering this Christmas season when gift-giving is a focus, I acknowledge one of my most precious gifts (then and now) is the man whose name and life I share.

Oh, just in case you’re thinking about an anniversary gift? Here’s an odd one. Apparently for the 44th, the gift of record is − wait for it − groceries!