I was tagged to participate in a weeklong highlight
your marriage game on Facebook and although I usually steer clear of too much
Facebook "fun," I decided to play along. I've been married almost twenty-three years
and I'm proud of the life the hubster and I share. And until I hit day seven, I was having fun.
As I started thinking about how I wanted to round
out the week, my brain kept jumping to various conversations the hubster and I
have had lately about what the future holds.
Almost every conversation now starts with the phrase "once we
know where the kiddo is going to end up."
It's uncanny to think how many times I've uttered those words in the
last several weeks. Let me give you the back-story…
Summer brought with it SAT scores and the kiddo did
well. Very well. While the hubster and I were pleasantly
surprised, the kiddo was pretty gob smacked.
We had him take the test cold (no studying) and he hasn’t even taken the
class where the majority of the math questions are taught. Although he’s heard about the important of
his grades, and studying, and testing well, and doing his best, I don’t think
it all came together for him until he saw the actual results. While it’s only four numbers, they have the
power to open college doors. After
reviewing his score, the kiddo turned to me and it was as if all at once he
realized what the hubster and I have been saying; that he has the power to give
himself choices if he plays his cards right.
So imagine the start of this new school year. The kiddo is more motivated than ever to do
his best, leaving the hubster and I to watch as he marches toward his college
dreams with marked determination. Everything
is as it should be. So why do I find
myself wondering what happened to my shy guy that refused to let go of me and
try new things?
This is my day seven post...
Day seven of the marriage challenge has the hubster and I
thinking about the road ahead. It dawns on us that many of our current
conversations oddly resemble those we had in the early days of our
relationship. As the kiddo gets closer to leaving for college, we find
ourselves talking about things that haven’t come up in years. Where do we want
to live when we downsize (because there will come a day when the words “school
district” won’t matter in relation to our neighborhood)? How do we want to
redecorate the next house (so it doesn’t look like either a toy box or a frat
house)? Where do we want to travel (you know, all those places the kiddo never
wanted to go)? I remember how the kiddo held on to me during his first trip to
the lake; how leery he was of taking that first step. Now it’s me who’s holding
on with a death grip.
It’s funny how thoughts of closing one chapter are
starting to feel so very similar to the beginning of the entire story…
