Married Life ...

I remember like it was yesterday. Yes, there really was a time that I thought that I would be the ideal husband. I saw with perfect clarity all of the mistakes that my married friends made and was certain that, should I ever find myself in that blessed state, I would not repeat them. Everything was crystal clear, and I couldn’t figure out what happened to those well-intentioned comrades-in-arms once they exchanged their singleness for a wedding ring.
Then I got married.
Suddenly, to my great surprise, I saw chinks in my own armor. My patience did indeed have limits. The initial “goo-goo” phase where I never really had opinions faded like the fog on a sunny summer morning. I found that I had opinions on where to eat, what to buy, and what to do for an evening of entertainment that did not all fade with a sweet smile or a touch on my shoulder. In fact, I truly was as imperfect and fallible as all of those husbands that I had looked down my nose at with such great piety. Perhaps I hadn’t had all of the answers after all.
Somewhere today is another deluded fellow like I once was. Some young man is out there with all the wisdom that total inexperience allows. Maybe our paths will cross, and he can pull me aside, intent on sharing his thoughts on the simplicity of marriage, begging for the opportunity to bestow upon me a trifle of enlightenment before life’s experience contaminates his perfect knowledge. If he should do so, I don’t think I have the heart to tell him what truths he will discover about himself should his wedding day arrive. The eagerness of youth is too precious to discourage.
However, there is hope for me yet. I do still have all the answers about raising children…