The Blog Post That Will Not Die

Gosh, I've been kind of surprised at all the reaction to my earlier post this week about "gifts" from Hubby and my occasional less-than-nice thoughts. Or, to be more accurate, it didn't quite surprise me at FIRST, but I've tried distracting all of you with cross-stitch pillows and berry cobbler recipes the last couple of days, but you still want to comment on that post! So I guess we're not quite done yet.

Of course, there's always more to a story, and there's more story behind each of those gifts I mentioned in that first post, but that wasn't really the point of the post--my grumpiness was the point. And it seems from the comments left that many of you have had similar experiences and thoughts along life's rocky road. Although this particular post focused on experiences with a spouse, I'm sure we'd all have just as many stories to tell if the subject was our relationships with our parents, our children, or anyone else we've lived with for some time. It's not always sunshine and laughter in any relationship, although I think there's a certain blessing to be found in our ability to laugh at some of the "relationship stuff" instead of cry!

From the comments, I see that some of us have been unfortunate in our relationships. I know what that's like. My first marriage didn't work out, and truthfully, the first five to ten years of my marriage with Hubby--well, let's just say that I was the romantic one and he--not so much. Somewhere along the way, that changed. Relationships--long term ones--are like that; up and down, ebb and flow, but obviously there's something there that makes us keep going.

There were a couple comments that seemed to question a bit whether I do nice things for Hubby--or maybe it was just my reading of the comments and they weren't intended that way at all. But of course I do. Marriage is a partnership and each of us is thoughtful of the other. But I don't feel the need to talk about the wonderfulness of myself--that wasn't what it was about. Hubby can tell you what bliss it is to be married to me--or not, as the case may be. But he's still here, so I guess I'm not too bad.

And I wasn't trying to make Hubby look bad in that post. There are plenty of stories from the 29 years of our marriage that would have done the job better if that was my intent. (And I'm sure that door swings both ways!) I can tell you, too, that if you had the impression I don't appreciate Hubby, that's not the case. Hubby does plenty of things that are completely wonderful, like when I find he's cut a single rose from the garden and put it in a bud vase somewhere for me to find, or when I come home from work and he asks whether I'd like an iced latte. Those simple little thoughtful gestures are the ones I appreciate most, without any of those grumpy thoughts I mentioned in that prior post.

And my grumpy self? Well, two weeks ago, on July 3rd, I quit smoking, cold turkey, so I have a free pass that allows me to be grumpy, cranky, depressed, and out-of-sorts for a little while still. But that's another blog post for another day. Thanks for stopping in to visit.