Dear Husband, When Life Is Hard You Are Still My Person

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Dear Husband,

When life is hard, you are still my rock.

Tonight I took this picture of you and our baby snuggled in bed together. I am reminded after a hard day that you are still the love of my life. You are a wonderful father. You are my best friend and my person! Even though . . .

Tonight we fought again, for the fourth time in two weeks. I was upset and frustrated. But even so my attitude was one of selfishness and disrespectful. In all of this I realize marriage is hard . . . and sometimes I am horrible at communicating and expect you to read my thoughts.

Sometimes I say I am listening and hearing only what I want to hear. I had grabbed my laptop and told you I was going to head out because I was frustrated. (Did I mention we are in a major transitional mode that has our whole family out of our element?) I didn’t communicate and you were frustrated, so I reacted badly.

You told me to go; instead I stayed. I put away my bag and laptop. I helped get the kids through the bedtime routine. Then I did my nighttime routine. As I laid with our kids reading a book you went to the lobby and brought back two cups of coffee (perks of being in a hotel). We sat and talked. We both apologized and worked on where the miscommunication happened. This is something we are working on.

Did I mention our marriage is hard right now? We have our struggles but I know this: you are my best friend. The reason you get to see my ugly side (even though I am not proud of it) is because you are the love of my life and you get me. You are the person I can be real with.

Marriage is both hard and great at the same time right now. Hard because of change and personal growth. Hard because we have three kids under age five. Great because we have wonderful adventures. Great because we are both committed to our lives together. Great because we can joke and laugh with each other even in hard times. Great because we don’t ever stop dreaming together even in our darkest moments and challenges.

Great because you know both my good and bad, and you still show up with a cup of coffee.

Even when marriage can be so very hard . . . there is still so much great to come.

Love,
Your wife, partner, and best friend

Originally published on the author’s blog

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Husband marriage

Jennifer Waugh

I am a mother of four; I write about our adventures in life as they relate to family life, marriage, homeschooling, and our family travels.

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