Serendipity

Today is our 14th anniversary. I've come to the conclusion this relationship is a great example of serendipity. This photo is the only one I have of that day on the banks of the mighty Colorado river in Laughlin, Nevada when we said I do. I've told our story in past posts. We were there for a gathering of a couple hundred like-minded people. A couple of days/weeks (my memory fails me) before our trip to Laughlin he said, hey, while we're up there in Nevada do you want to get married? It really did surprise me when he asked. I was just short of 2 years coming off the worst year of my life and trying to find my place in the world again. He had history, too. I believe in my heart of hearts this is why we work.

 

This post is not about the gushy part of us. I'll save that for the book. We traveled a lot in our first 7 years living in Arizona. Since moving to eastern Washington, we traveled as much as possible and now have almost run out of new places to visit on day trips. We still take a lot of Sunday drives in the car and those times are when we talk the most. We're nine years older since moving here and physical limitations (and 3 dogs) have slowed our roll a bit. Change is inevitable.

 

What hasn't changed for me is that deep sense of commitment I feel for him and this marriage. Nobody tells you that things are going to get harder as you get older. I'm here to tell you they do. Our bodies change. Our minds change. You wake up one day and there are wrinkles and sore knees that weren't there the day before. Some of your parts don't work. You can't remember shit. You have heard every story that the other person has told .... fifteen hundred times. But you still listen like it's the first time you've ever heard it. You hang on to your sense of humor because some days that's all you have left intact.

 

There are days I am not a peach to live with. I still maintain the secret to marriage/relationships (ours anyway) is to not be crazy on the same day. We both have days where the world gets sideways for us. If you ask me, I'll tell you the key to a successful relationship is riding the wave until it passes. Having experienced it (craziness) many times, we know it always passes. We can laugh about it later. This marriage is not my first rodeo but it certainly has been my best!

 

It is serendipity that brought us together and I believe it is "the want" to find serendipity in everything we do that will keep us together.

 

Have you experienced serendipity? Do you have any secrets for long-lasting relationships?  Do tell!

 

love, susan