I’m celebrating my two year wedding anniversary today!
My husband and I have been together for roughly seven years, and our relationship is far from ‘normal.’ We met under some weird circumstances – if you’d like to hear the full story, you can go here for a Drunk History re-enactment (Thank you wedding party!)
When we first met, I pushed my husband to pursue his dream of being a sound recordist for television/film. Even though I knew that this switch would be hard and frustrating, I wasn’t entirely prepared for what was to come. Not having a steady paycheck meant that I needed to compromise and go back into the corporate world and retire my makeup brushes. I wasn’t overly upset about this, freelancing was almost a joke in my field, and you were swimming in a full pool. What caught me off guard was the conflict in schedules.
My husband takes pride in his field, works hard and submits to crazy hours. We don’t get the average quality time that most couples do – in fact, most of my mornings are spent alone as he sleeps off his 12 hour day. During his busy season, I will be lucky to spend a full day with him.
These work hours have not only affected our relationship but has cost him friendships and family time. In the beginning stages of our relationship, this was hard for me to grasp. My anxiety got the best of me, and I started to have doubts, and my fear of abandonment went full throttle – you know what did help? Knowing that we were both never going to give up on each other. He was always there to reassure me and never left my side, even when I couldn’t see past my emotions at that moment.
After years of going through the motions and reading all the relationship advice I could get, I can proudly say that my husband works like this so he can be successful and make our dreams come true. It’s not the fact that he enjoys no quality time and working long hours, he does this because he loves our home and would do anything to make us happy. I’m guilty of not seeing this in the beginning – I’m guilty of not praising him the way that he deserves.
Today I want to acknowledge my husband for all of the hard work and perseverance that he has shown me over the years. I beam with pride whenever I think of his career and how far he’s come in this short amount of time. I respect his work ethic, his intelligence, and his core values. I am thankful for his emotional strength during the lows and his sense of humor during the highs. For better or worse, I am honored to call you my husband.
The Gray Space 