"Aachoo"
Walter covered his mouth and nose, held up his hand and sneezed. The walls didn't shake and I didn't jump. Our conversation continued as I thanked him for not letting loose with a full-blown bellowing sneeze.
In that loving moment, he named it his "courting sneeze." This sneeze is the one he used regularly until a year or so into our marriage. Now he uses the unrestrained free for all "AACHOO" that you would imagine comes from a bear. I jump, shudder, and hold on to objects so they don't fall to the ground.
Ok, so they aren't really that loud or terrifying, but there is definitely a difference between the courting sneeze and the 10-year married sneeze.
My brother and sister and Walter's sister are all engaged and preparing to be married in the next six months. At the same time Walter and I are preparing to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.
Since I'm not the one thinking about the wedding every second of the day and I am looking forward to showers, seeing family, and celebrating these great joys I've had more time to think about their marriages. I can't think of a lot of wise advice to give. Life has been too busy to analyze what makes it work. Not much advice other than the practicalities of what life is actually like once the courting sneezes are gone.
Our courting time was amazing.
Our wedding was beautiful.
When we got home from the honeymoon and settled into White Place, I thought the work was done. The wedding stresses were behind us, we had picked out and were settling into our new home and I was ready for the blissful married life to begin.
Many parts of our married life have been blissful, but many parts of this married life have been about adjusting to things like the disappearance of the courting sneeze. Sometimes I miss that sweetness, the formality, the politeness, the cautiousness. That time was special but it was for a season.
While I have nostalgic thoughts about the attention and wooing of the dating and engagement period of our relationship, there is much security and comfort in the love of the 10-year married stage.
I love our comfortable routines, his steady strength, a growing relationship history, timeless and tireless emotional support, and I love that we can share in the mundaneness of things like diapering and bathing kids.
I now live with and love the man who relegates the courting sneeze to special sweet flashbacks of a time past.
I embrace the Walter who feels comfortable enough to share with me the 10 year married sneeze.
And I guess I will hold on to my head as I brace for what the 20, 30, 40, 50... year married sneezes will be like!
Walter covered his mouth and nose, held up his hand and sneezed. The walls didn't shake and I didn't jump. Our conversation continued as I thanked him for not letting loose with a full-blown bellowing sneeze.
In that loving moment, he named it his "courting sneeze." This sneeze is the one he used regularly until a year or so into our marriage. Now he uses the unrestrained free for all "AACHOO" that you would imagine comes from a bear. I jump, shudder, and hold on to objects so they don't fall to the ground.
Ok, so they aren't really that loud or terrifying, but there is definitely a difference between the courting sneeze and the 10-year married sneeze.
My brother and sister and Walter's sister are all engaged and preparing to be married in the next six months. At the same time Walter and I are preparing to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.
Since I'm not the one thinking about the wedding every second of the day and I am looking forward to showers, seeing family, and celebrating these great joys I've had more time to think about their marriages. I can't think of a lot of wise advice to give. Life has been too busy to analyze what makes it work. Not much advice other than the practicalities of what life is actually like once the courting sneezes are gone.
Our courting time was amazing.
Our wedding was beautiful.
When we got home from the honeymoon and settled into White Place, I thought the work was done. The wedding stresses were behind us, we had picked out and were settling into our new home and I was ready for the blissful married life to begin.
Many parts of our married life have been blissful, but many parts of this married life have been about adjusting to things like the disappearance of the courting sneeze. Sometimes I miss that sweetness, the formality, the politeness, the cautiousness. That time was special but it was for a season.
While I have nostalgic thoughts about the attention and wooing of the dating and engagement period of our relationship, there is much security and comfort in the love of the 10-year married stage.
I love our comfortable routines, his steady strength, a growing relationship history, timeless and tireless emotional support, and I love that we can share in the mundaneness of things like diapering and bathing kids.
I now live with and love the man who relegates the courting sneeze to special sweet flashbacks of a time past.
I embrace the Walter who feels comfortable enough to share with me the 10 year married sneeze.
And I guess I will hold on to my head as I brace for what the 20, 30, 40, 50... year married sneezes will be like!
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