Throughout most of my life, I’ve heard the saying, “Marry your best friend.” I never gave it much thought.
Obviously, my time with my husband pre-marriage was amazing, and I always thought of him as one of my closest friends. At the end of the day, I spent every day with him and we grew together in our relationship.
Then the arrival of our first child showed me the meaning of that saying. When you have your first child, your whole life changes—how cliché to say, but, oh my word, how true!
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You lose friends you thought were your best friends. Your priorities change. Your relationship with your body changes. The whole dynamic of life is turned upside down while you learn the ropes.
The one person who stays constant, every hour of every day, is your best friend, your other half.
He is patient when you cry in the night because your eyes sting from tiredness.
He watched you birth children and looked at you with love and reassurance in his eyes.
He has seen you at your worst but tells you you’re the best.
He takes over when he can see you’re on the edge.
He changes diapers without a second thought.
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He stands for hours rocking your crying child so you can get some sleep.
He bathes and clothes your children.
He works day in, day out so you can stay home and watch them grow.
He comes home from work, tired and aching, but gets on the floor and plays with the babies.
He comes home and hugs you because he can tell you might just need it.
He stays awake to chat about your day even though he wants to shut his eyes and go to sleep.
He listens.
He takes the kids out without you so you can have me time.
He tells you you’re an amazing mother.
He laughs and reminds you of the couple that you are, minus kids.
He tickles your back to make sure you can get to sleep when there are 101 things on your mind.
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He loves your children so much.
He loves you when you don’t know how to love yourself.
That is a best friend.
That is someone you should marry. Now I know why that is so important, how amazing it is to have someone like that with you on our journey in life.
I feel so thankful every day to have married my best friend.