Mr. and Mrs. James Kevin Langston
March 8, 1997
March 8, 2007
March 7, 2007
10 down, 40 to go
When my husband and I got married (10 years ago tomorrow), he said that he thought we should plan to re-evaluate the deal at 50 years. In honor of making it through the first 10 years, here are 10 lessons I have learned so far:
1. If the argument doesn’t start until 9:00 p.m., it’s almost impossible not to go to bed angry. Inevitably, one of you will say your peace and go right to sleep while the other turns and churns all night. If you can manage to fight earlier and quicker, nobody will lose any sleep.
2. Buying an artificial, pre-lit Christmas tree has eliminated our biggest fight of the year. It makes the holidays easier. I have been known to use it as a piece of furniture and, until 1 strand of lights went out (right in the middle), I was apt to turn it on even when it wasn’t decorated.
3. Laughing helps almost everything and, if you are lucky, you can laugh with your spouse about most anything. A sense of humor will ease tension and help you not to take yourself so seriously. I’ll take someone funny over someone rich any day!
4. Nothing smaller than a king size bed is big enough! No explanation necessary.
5. It’s easy to forget you are on the same team. With jobs and children and competing schedules, make sure you are focusing on the right “enemy” and make sure that enemy is not your spouse. If you don’t guard your own attitudes and egos, no one else will either!
6. Seeing our hair turn gray together makes me feel like we have accomplished something!
7. It is possible to have graduated from Mississippi State and Ole Miss and not really care about SEC football. In our house, the Southern Living subscription is in HIS name and MY fall Saturdays are planned around the televised game schedules!
8. It’s all in the presentation! Choosing what to tell, when to tell, and how to tell is definitely an art and a balancing act. Sometimes, saying nothing is appropriate also, but I have not learned that as well as I should have.
9. It’s important to have current wills and life insurance policies and even more important to know where those documents are kept. There is no guarantee that our next heartbeat won’t be our last. Wills and life insurance won’t take the grief away but they can make some of the practical things easier so you can deal with grief adequately.
10. Holding his hand still gives me chill bumps and, if I had the chance, I would choose him all over again!
