Forty Down.

The other morning David turned to me and said Do you realize we've been married for 2/3rds of our lives? Wow. Had to sit and ponder that for awhile. We are the Unicorns of Married People, there are no ex spouses, no steps or significant others lurking about the background - just us two. Both of our kids have told us when they tell their friends that they have the same parents they started out with it's often met with disbelief. When the kids were in school because there's a gap between them I was occasionally asked if they had the same father which I thought was a bit nervy, but you'd be surprised.  And I do know a surprising amount of couples that have only been married once - two of my cousins, my sister, my best friend, a few people from high school but overall we are far and few between, aren't we? 

David and I were introduced when I was 19 and he was 22 - I had a boyfriend that I had been dating for almost two years and the relationship had gone well past it's expiration date, my best friend Richard did not like him and  kept insisting I meet his uncle who was only 3 years older than me.  We went over to his grandmother's house and there he was - and that was that. I broke up with my boyfriend and never looked back-  and yes, I married my best friend's uncle which Richard has never let me forget. We were married in a little over a year from the day I met him. I find it interesting sometimes that I know people that dated for years and were divorced in months so I guess it doesn't depend on how long you know someone. 

I think one of the most frequent  things I hear when people find out how long we've been married is "I don't think I could stay with someone that long!" - I'm not sure where people think the Bored With You Cutoff should be. But looking back - you don't stay with the same person that long, do you? The two we started out as are not the same people we grew up to be. We went broke several times when we were younger, if we had a dollar we spent three and learned the very hard way when the money ran out and the creditors wanted their money back and then some. We had our kids pretty young by today's standards and occasionally mucked that up, but they DID survive and we managed not to off anyone, so I've always considered that a job well done. Weve been through multiple careers, houses, pets, moves, move again, we have had screaming,blow out arguments in which the opposing party was invited to pack their bags and GO - but to our credit we have never hit each other or sworn at each other - never say anything you cannot take back. That's very important you know, not to do  anything unforgiveable. And we've always been there for each other, sometimes I was the stay at home, sometimes David was - we both cleaned the house, raised the kids and worked - our marriage has always been equal. So forty years has been pretty interesting, forty down the rest of our lives to go!