Sometimes I get asked for relationship advice, which always both flatters and surprises me.
Flatters because, who doesn't like being asked for advice? It makes you feel like you know things. And surprises because, me? I've fucked so very many things up along the way.
A friend of mine said that while that may be true, it doesn't mean that I don't have a helpful perspective on life. Which I appreciated.
So, after I posted about meeting Nick seven years ago and getting engaged in 10 weeks, I got a question about how I knew? How was I certain that he was the person and this was right?
I'd been asked this before, because really, 10 weeks?
And so this time, I responded to the question with the absolute truth, which was something I hadn't told Nick (but now have).
I didn't. I wasn't.
I knew that being with him felt really good, and that me made me laugh, and that he was smart in ways I found intriguing, and that I felt safe. Not boring safe, but certain that he would not abandon me. And also protected, like no harm could come to me if I were with him. I still feel this way.
(Plus, he had a lot of power tools. But this was just a bonus.)
But I didn't actually know. I wasn't sure. But he was. He was dead certain that I was his person and he was mine. So I rode on his certainty.
Actually, this is how we tend to be as people. He will make big decisions very quickly without ever questioning them. And then there I am, perusing the drinks section for 20 minutes because do I want Gatorade? Water? Maybe lemonade? Hmm.
Yah.
I knew that I had let go of some very good, solid men, because I could not commit. I pushed them away and I ran and then I had regrets. In retrospect, I broke my own heart a few times. And then there were times that I knew, oh, I knew. And then it turned out that really, I knew nothing, Jon Snow.
I mean, by the time you're 38, you've lived a lot of ups and downs.
So there we were.
He was certain and I went with it. I kind of thought, what the hell am I waiting for? Why don't I just try marriage? If it doesn't work out, at least I'll have tried.
I'm not offering this up as advice, because what do I know?
I'm just saying, so far, so good.
I teared up reading this. Because I am so happy you have Nick and he has you - I think you are a wonderful couple with a uniquely beautiful life and family.
ReplyDeleteI value your thoughts and guidance immensely and have since reading LG early-on and before we met and became friends. You're incredibly smart but it's not about having all the answers, rather you know yourself and have such a huge heart which I think it allows you to see the world and people in a very insightful way. You've seen so much of the world and took it all in along the way which has enriched your perspective, you're honest and, again, you have a great capacity to care for others.
Heather, I love you love you love you. But you know this already. :)
ReplyDelete