Thirty-five

How is it possible that I've been married thirty-five years today? How amazingly fast the years fly by when life is busy and you have no time to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

When we got married we were young and crazy and, in retrospect, probably not all that well suited to each other. I get a kick out of young people today who seem to think they need to live together to decide if they're compatible. Compatibility is not really all that vital to a long marriage as far as I'm concerned. What is important is a desire to make things work, a basic love and appreciation for the other person, and a willingness to put all your own wants and desires on the back burner, caring more about the union than the individual. And it also helps to have the wisdom to know that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, no matter what your circumstances in life.

I can honestly say that I've had thirty-five wonderful years of marriage. Obviously there have been challenges and times were not always easy. Sometimes I wish I was with someone who would write me poems or read to me, for instance. But when those thoughts enter my mind I simply take a moment to reflect on the fact that he would probably love being married to woman who shared his love of sports, or could fit into a size 4 dress. And in the end of the day I think the real secret of successful marriage is accepting each others imperfections and short comings and appreciating their strengths and attributes. It's about reality and being aware of the fact that perfection only exists in romance novels - and, in fact, sometimes its the imperfections that make us the most interesting. And its about choosing to make it work. Because it's so worth it. After thirty-five years, being with your best friend every night is really a wonderful thing.