Marriage and parenting add an incredible dimension into ones life. It brings about wonderful moments and memories; yet, it includes the most difficult and and heart wrenching moments. When you find a partner that sticks by you through your worst times and can still see through these and continue to bring out the best, you are blessed.
I have found, at least in our case, that marriage is like a rollercoaster. When I see a rollercoaster, I notice the peaks, the twists and turns, the valleys. I am filled with excitement and suspense.
Before the ride begins, I look at the rollercoaster and focus on the peaks and I expect a fun ride. When I sit down, I look over at my hubby, and I am locked in (commitment), for safety reasons. The rollercoaster takes off and I am excited, enjoying the ride up with a steady “tika, tika, tika, tika”. We ride to the top, look over and smile at each other. Then it hits me, “dead silence”. I look around and notice the drop… not quite what I was expecting! Before I can catch my breath we are headed straight down! The drop is further than I thought, I’m scared and it looks like we’re about to crash.
I begin screaming, look over at him and wondering why I ever agreed to get on this ride. As I am about to blame him, I realize he’s thinking the same thing. We wonder if we are going to survive this fall. Thank goodness, before we have the chance to crash and burn, we begin the uphill climb.
The climb back up is harder, we realize what is ahead, but when we get there it levels out, we begin to enjoy the view. We look over at each other and smile, telling ourselves “It’s OK! We made it through the last one. This is fun!”. We think we know what to expect.
As we brace ourselves for the fall, it is a dip instead. A sigh of relief and we begin to enjoy the view again. All of the sudden, out of nowhere, we are thrown into loops, we go upside down and then through a dark tunnel. This is scarier than the last fall, it is pitch black and this time, I feel alone. It seems like days have passed and I then I remember he is there, beside me. I start looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. I reach out and grab his hand, I begin to relax. We decide to hold on tight and we see the light. As we begin to see more clearly, we focus on where we are going. We realize the valleys are better with someone holding your hand.
Even though we are not sure what the rest of the ride has in store, I decide it is better to face it together. Soon we begin screaming out of fear and then we scream for fun! We begin to enjoy the ride again.
Although, this time we appreciate each other and we know when to raise our arms and scream for fun and we know when to hold each others hand. As we come to a stop, I look back at the roller coaster and I think about the peaks, the valleys, the dips and twists. It was exciting and terrifying and now I know I want him with me, along for the ride.
Happy (15th) Anniversary, to my hubby! Thanks for choosing me to be your partner as we take a ride on this rollercoaster together.
Cammie Moise