HWDI: Two become one

This is the second in the series of How We Did It.

Communication was a key part of our survival. We have communicated pretty openly and honestly since the first day we met -- including me telling my future husband I didn't want to date him and turning him down (again) when he asked me out in front of a group of friends. (Clearly I changed my mind).

This foundation played a key role over the nine months. There were things I wanted, that my husband did not feel were necessary and I had to respect that. Likewise, there were things he wanted that I didn't. He too respected that. I don't think we fought, I mean really fought, once during this entire time. Sure we had our disagreements. And yes there were times all he wanted to do was play his Wii or all I wanted to do was read my cooking magazines. But in a marriage, especially when you have children, you have to work together and put the needs and wants of the family ahead of your own individual needs.

Lucky for us, we were never big-goer-outers (especially since our good friends moved away and we didn't have anyone to regularly go to the Irish bars with us :p)

We played a lot of Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit.

We began a Netflix account, wound up watching The Wire, among movies we hadn't seen but wanted to.

When I got discouraged, he was there lift me up and I did the same for him. Or, on those rare occasion when we both had our pity-party at the same time, our son would do something so hilarious we would both forget our cares and laugh with/at him...and soon our worries were put back in their place. Children really are priceless entertainment!

I still do the bulk of the cooking, but he began to help out more in the prep department (he always cleans up that's been the standing trade-off).

When we needed "our space" one would stay in the living room, the other would go in the bedroom. We took our son on a lot of walks and discovered just about every playground in the Northern Virginia area.

Perhaps what was most important, and this is key, we had faith. We had faith in each other and in God. I *knew* he would get a job and I also *knew* God would not let us fall through the cracks and things would work out (whatever that meant.)

I am not writing this to brag, but rather to explain. A friend has told me several times that my husband and I are the only couple she knows who are just as happy and in love today as the day we were married. At first I just thanked her, but as she said it more and more, I began to think about it. The key really has to be communication.

We never stopped communicating, and we never will. This means I will know every statistic known to man about the Yankees and he will always know exactly what I am thinking exactly when I am thinking it (like an hour after getting home telling him in extreme detail about the joker who nearly cut me off earlier in the day because some guy on tv looks like him.)

But on a serious note, we will both always know that the other has their back, because on March 12, two became one.