Love isn't for wimps

Our neighbor just died from terminal cancer, leaving her husband behind.  I went up and hugged him and he asked "what will I do?".  I have heard my own widowed mother ask this very question.  I also listen to friends and sisters worries and frustrations about their own spouse relationships.  If I ever doubt how I ended up with Rob, I only need to look at this picture of us.  We were the ripe old age of seventeen in this one. (above, obviously not below;)  We are practically glowing with love/infatuation/obsession, you name it.  I have concerns and worries about our relationship sometimes.  Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel, and giving up, either by leaving physically or emotionally.  We are two drastically different human beings with different ideas and processes for life.  We agree on so much, but disagree on just enough to get under each other's skin sometimes.  We are, what I would describe, very happily married and it is still a challenge.  There is a lot of joy and a lot of frustration in this union of ours.  I love him fiercely and would never be able to really give up on us.  He feels the same, and so we plug on.  We have ups and downs, months of connecting to go with a week or two of distance, and still we choose to love each other.

 And in moments like the hug with my neighbor, and his awesome wife's funeral, I am thoroughly reminded of why it is worth it.  I am familiar with just a few of their struggles.  Some of them may have been a deal breaker for me, but they soldiered on, and raised four wonderful human beings together.  Their struggles make me thankful for my own and his sorrow makes me thankful for my joyful days.  

My neighbor and his late, totally cool, wife.

 Most of all I am really grateful for the perspective that other people's lives give me.  What a gift to have reminders that help me course correct and re prioritize what truly matters.  I wouldn't want to struggle, worry about, or argue with any other man.  I feel infinitely more love for him than I did in that first picture.  He is my person.  He is my best friend.  And I know that, when he or I go and leave the other behind for a time, we will be asking through our tears "what will I do?". 

My cutie patootie parents, before my Dad passed away.