I find it hard to think of the word marriage without thinking of the scene from The Princess Bride, “Mawwiage…”
This is another issue we have complicated with other ideas like patriarchy, power imbalance, sexual freedom etc. We can’t discuss marriage, for fear of offending the non-typical expressions of the institution that exist in our society.
Again this should be far more simple. Maybe it is no more complicated than, life is better when you don’t face it alone.
The morning after my husband had a stroke I returned home, slept for two hours and then got up and tried to organize the job site that he was working at. I then got the kids sorted out and off to school. I looked passed their shattered zombi-like responses and told them sticking to the routine would help. I then answered phone calls from concerned family and friends.
After all that I found myself alone, with no immediate task to face. I was told Wes would be having tests in the morning, so I wasn’t in a rush to get back to the hospital. It was at this point I felt it. It was physical, not just emotional. It was painful. I felt like I had been ripped in half.
I was staring at the reality that I might have to carry on in life without my partner. I would be alone. A wounded half person facing the grimness of life.
Could I have done it if I had to? Yes. But, I’d rather have my partner and helper back. Maybe this is the true power of marriage; the strength of knowing that you have someone completely on your team. The two of you against the world.
I for one am thrilled to still have my other half. I’m happy to have my husband by my side to walk through the trials of life together.
It isn’t good for us to be alone.
Genesis 2: 18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Roberta Writes 