Coping Mechanism's of a (Forever and EVER -AMEN) Marriage

I see on Facebook, that day after tomorrow is my...hang on a minute, I gotta count...36th wedding anniversary...hummm...or is it 360 ?

Sometime's it feels like it...and sometimes, it still seems like it was just yesterday.

I think back to the two people we were in 1975, and don't recognize either one of them.

The ONLY thing that has NOT changed, is that with FEW exception's...we have nothing in common, which is proof still, that opposites attract !

Back then, he had hair and I was skinny. Now he is bald, and I am not so skinny.

(But, I STILL have hair, and plenty of it, which really pisses him off) !!!

(Insert wicked grin here)

Both of us have always loved music, and that remains a constant...and, both of us still believe in God and family FIRST.

We love our kid's more than life...kid's we didn't think we'd ever have...and, THEY are our BEST work.

The thing's that we differ in....there are not enough GB on this computer to list them, but...we've each learned a thing or two about how to overcome them, and make this marriage last...

First of all...communicate...when necessary !

It is imparitive that you listen to each other and talk to each other, but only about those thing's you have in common...When something else comes up, punch the IGNORE button.

There is a trick to that though...

I can have a complete conversation with my husband, about something we disagee on (political issue's, for instance) respond appropriately to everything he say's and send him off, under the impression that I totally "got it" although I couldn't tell you one word he said.

He does the same thing to me too...

It takes TIME to learn how to do that too , but it CAN be mastered.

These past three years have really been a test in that for me though...See, He had open heart surgery, and I swear...I don't know WHAT they did, but they put him to sleep, and he woke up, Republican !

More than just Republican....he just flat woke up Nucking Fut'z when it comes to politic's.

Used too, he could care less about political stuff...oh, we'd discuss it, but we never argued about it...because we pretty much agreed on it...but, NOW....OMG !

It's really not even about party lines either...I mean, He will crank up the bitch machine on any politician, or any issue, depending on how mad it makes him...and it keeps him stirred up most all the time.

POX news play's on one (or more, if he has HIS way about it) TV in our house, just about 24/7.

I cannot TELL you how ILL it makes me... to wake up at 1am to go to the bathroom, and see Glenn Beck's ugly mug on TV (insert THREE eyeroll's here) !!!

I honestly think I do pretty good, but that ignore button only works for just so long, on some thing's (like Glenn Beck at 1am) and then I can't help it...I throw me one hell of a hissy fit, banning POX News, and politic's in general, OR ELSE....

OR ELSE, means somebody's gonna have a new address ...if it's me, I have a place to go, and if it's him, it might very well be under that bridge down on Moffat Rd, because , you can write it on a ROCK...NO ONE (in their right mind) is going to put up with POX News 24/7...

So, you might be wondering "What about MY faults" ...

I don't have any...

well, maybe a couple.

I used to be a NICE lady....sweet, kind, calm, loving....until I turned fifty.

Fifty freed me from all that nonsense.

I'm still not a mean person, but my filter is much thinner than it used to be, and I am just as liable to moon a redneck flying down the road, with my bigole white grannie panties, as to look at him...and...YES, I did...and he damn well deserved it too !

So, yeah..I say what I think now...and if you don't like it...well...that's pretty much just TUFF !

I am not as good a housekeeper as I used to be...I admit it, and I don't cook every night either.

I used to LOVE to cook, and fed my family HUGE meals...not anymore !

I take it in spells now...when I FEEL like it (which isn't very often)

So, NO...I'm not the perfect little wife I used to be, but...Oh Well !

There is always "OR ELSE"....

So, after 36 years...it's really more like 38, since we've been together since 1973...we are at the very least "tolerable" to each other, and at the most....still at it.

Maybe not "rip your clothes off" at it anymore, but we can still sit on the porch together, in total silence and relish nature ...finish each other's sentences, and sometimes, answer each other's question's before they are even asked...so, it isn't so bad....

In fact....it's pretty darn good most of the time...