Happy Anniversary Jeff!

A very great day eight years ago today. 

I haven't been wearing my wedding ring much lately.

That's not any sign of marital woes whatsoever.  Just the opposite, in fact. Oddly, it's a sign of the strength of our marriage and my love for Jeff.

Eight years ago today, Jeff and I got married.  I'm biased, but I still regard that as the best wedding ceremony I've ever seen. But I should explain the ring, since I brought it up.

Jeff and I don't get out much these days.  You know, Covid.  For the past so many months, Jeff and I don't go out to shows, movies, restaurants, plays or to visit friends.

It's just as depressing for us as it is for everybody else, but we are hanging in there just fine. We make do. It works.

I now work mostly from home, he's retired.  When I do work outside the home, it's in somebody's garden, far from any other people, which makes social distancing easy.

Before Covid, I was out and about quite a bit.  I wore that wedding ring as a badge of honor, gloating to everyone how lucky and blessed I am to be married to Jeff.

Jeff knows how much I love him, or at least he'd better! I have nothing to "prove" to him. Since most of my life outside the house is gardening, I don't want to lose that ring in the dirt. So I take it off. And there's just no incentive to put it back on, since I can't wave it under anybody's nose. Yes, I'm that shallow.

I don't need to wave the ring under Jeff's nose, either. He knows how much I love him. I've said this a million times before:  What first attracted me to Jeff was his absolute decency, kindness and humor.  These characteristics just keep growing on me, confirming to me every day that marrying Jeff was by far the best decision I ever made.

I imagine the isolation that Covid has created for everybody can create tension in some marriages. Being cooped up in the house with the same person day in and day out might not work for some people.

It works for me! I'm happy to report we're great.  We are also smart enough to explore both our mutual interests and our own.  Jeff has gotten somewhat addicted to researching family ancestry. I was initially only marginally interested, but now he's got me totally hooked.

I go out and do my gardening.  Now Jeff seems to have gotten that gardening bug. He's been experimenting with hollyhocks, gardinias, calla lillies and other plants. The gardens around the house are so much better as a result.

This is just one example of how this works so well.  We have our own interests, along with common ones. Separate interests meld into one, and the result is much greater than the sum of its parts.   It's a sign of what Jeff has done to my entire life:  Add one ingredient, namely Jeff, and it just transformed my whole life.

Life goes on, we hope, anyway.  Even the small disasters seem much more manageable with Jeff around. Recently, the fridge sprung a leak and wrecked the floor. The hot water heater needed replacing. So did the kitchen stove. Jackson the Wonder Dog got sprayed by a skunk. The extreme summer weather was harsh on the gardens.

I tend to whine when a problem hits, but Jeff always gently reminds me that we just need to deal with it.  It cuts the whining short, and we move on and solve the problem.

There's a song I like called "Easy's Getting Harder Every Day."  Because of Jeff, if I wrote my version of that song, I'd have to call it "Hard is Getting Easier Every Day."

Jeff might have spoiled a cry in your beer country song, but he keeps improving everything else around him. Including me.

I don't deserve this, but I'll take it.

Happy Anniversary, Chief!