Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can’t sleep with the window shut, and a woman who can’t sleep with the window open. —George Bernard Shaw

On so many levels, this quotation calls out for recognition—and a guffaw– if you’ve been married more than one week. When we first marry, we are basking in the glow of love, dreams, possibilities, and the future. And then reality hits, and we realize that marriage isn’t as glamorous as we expected.

It’s better.

For those of us who have been married for a while, it’s easy to talk about the trials of marriage, the ups and downs: periods of financial stress, personal losses, uncertainty, and unexpected changes. We tend to focus on those challenges we overcame, because we know of many people who don’t find their way through them, and finally give up the demands of those times.

But I think it’s also worthwhile to reflect on the joys, silly and humorous times in our marriages, because those are the periods when we are strengthened to get through the anxious and uncertain times. So, I’ve decided to share some of those times with all of you, and I’d love to hear your stories, too.

• There was the time when my husband forgot to put the cover on the popcorn popper after starting it up. We’d both left the kitchen, and I was the first to wonder about the strange sounds emanating from the room. He was horrified, as popped corn was flying all over the kitchen! But when we both realized what had happened, we broke into the giggles—and salvaged what we could, since that was the last of the popcorn in the jar.
• I remember the time we were horsing around and my husband had his arms around me from behind—at the top of a split-level stairway. As I pushed back, he lowered himself to the ground, and we slid backward down the stairs. No one was hurt—I was upset at first, but he definitely took the brunt of the fall!
• We were preparing for a Denver Broncos football game on TV, and made the mistake of setting down a plate of salami, cheese, and crackers on the ottoman—with our little cockapoo nearby; it was too delicious for her to resist. When we shouted at her sampling the plate, she gobbled down as much as she could before we could reach her. I’ve never seen a dog eat so fast!
• My husband woke up coughing during the night, and tried to quiet himself by sitting on the ledge that goes around the bed—and promptly fell asleep. Unfortunately, he had a sliding glass door frame a couple of feet away, and as he dozed, he fell forward and hit his head on the railing of the door. Do you know how much a person bleeds when his forehead is pierced? I jumped out of bed, wondering what had happened, and my hubby calmly told me that he’d hit his head and there was going to be a lot of blood, so I shouldn’t panic. I grabbed a towel, which he put to his forehead, and he promptly walked to the bathroom sink nearby and proceeded to rinse his forehead, over and over again. (He was still half asleep.) It was so bizarre that it was funny! I finally persuaded him to stop rinsing and to apply pressure to the cut and I put a pressure bandage on it. No more dozing on the edge of the bed for him!!

There are many more stories to remember, particularly on this particular day.

We were married July 7, 1974, and we both know how blessed we are.

I’ll end with this quotation by William O. Douglas—

Marriage is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred.

Now it’s your turn!