Next week my dearly beloved and I have been married for 10 whole years.
Having grown up from abuse and left copying with PTSD but not knowing that, I have always been 'difficult' when it came to relationships and rather than face issues I usually ran away which for some reason happened after about 9 years.
I tried to run away from this one in the early days, after about 9 weeks, but the man wouldn't let me go... and I'm glad he didn't.
So, what have I gained from spending 10 years sharing a home and a life with the same person?
I've gained 10 years of putting up with someone's opposite point of view, 10 years of stress, 10 years of frustration, 10 years of I told you so, 10 years of junk, 10 years of cooking and cleaning more than just my own stuff, 10 years of changing views, 10 years of 'life education', 10 years of crap, 10 years of worry, 10 years of raising someone else's kids.
I've also gained 10 years of learning to acknowledge someone else's point of view, 10 years of love, 10 years of compassion, 10 years of sharing, 10 years of caring, 10 years of hope, 10 years of comfort, 10 years of friendship and 10 years of that quality we can never quite define.
So in honour of my dear husband who has given me love, taken my love, caused me grief and carried my grief ... here's to the next 10 years ... because I know that no one else would put up with me and still say "I love you" at the end of the day. He's one of a kind, and I'm lucky he's mine.
