Wondering, Wandering, and Writing

This is a few days early, but I have the time and inclination so I’m writing now.

We’ve all seen the social media posts about “We’ve been together xx years and been through a lot, but we’d do it all over again.”  Well, I’m here to admit, as Chuck and I have admitted to each other, that we’re not so sure we would do it all over again.

Yes, you read that right.  After 44 years of marriage, and being content with where we are, neither of us is real sure that if had we known even half of what we would face, that the evening back in December of 1976 would have gone the way it did.  But he did buy a ring.  And he asked me to marry him.  And I said yes.  And we told Daddy it was just a promise ring. Just over a year later, for my 18^th birthday, Chuck gave me my real engagement ring.  Four months later we said “I do” in front of family and friends.

Fast forward through two children, a business that folded, craziness at church, and an accident that nearly took Chuck outta here a few times, and we end up in January, 2004.  I couldn’t handle our marriage situation any longer and I left.  Several weeks later a mutual friend convinced me to give the marriage another chance.  And, in June, just after our wedding anniversary, we were back together. 

It was the best-case scenario.  God blessed us with the ability to truly start over with blank slates.  That kind of forgiveness and renewal is truly a gift from God.  We have our history – the good, the bad, the ugly, the precious.  We have a better relationship since getting back together than we had ever had during our first quarter century together.

We’ve dealt with several things that typically end in divorce. We’ve often wondered if we handled things correctly (some we did, some we didn’t). And yet, here we are – twenty years after starting over – facing the challenges of the day, doing the best we can with the information we have at the time, and looking forward to another bunch of years.

There are times to throw in the towel and quit.  There were a lot of times we could have.  I’m thankful we’ve picked it up together.

#bgwww24