Friday, August 12, 2016

The Marriage Challenge...

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…