Welcome back, readers!

We just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. In the past several years, we have been able to take a long weekend to go somewhere. Due to changes in our finances, my husband took the day off and we spent it together. The inexpensive route was nice, too. He brought flowers and a lovely card. I have no doubts that he really loves me for who I am.

We have our struggles and challenges over the  past 12 months which put a strain on our relationship. We had not lost sight of our love and commitment. Family issues, surgery for my son and me, other difficulties, tested and stretched our bonds. When we went through premarital counseling, our minister said that most of the time, he has met with couples who were opposites. He found my husband and me to be compatible in almost all the questions we answered in the marriage test which was a rarity. This has helped our relationship greatly.

The Marriage Contract

So, as a derivative of our premarriage counseling, my husband signed up for 50 years and more. I signed up on the one year plan with yearly renewals.  The marriage contract. Each year on the date of or anniversary, I ask the three important questions:

1. What worked for us this year?

2. What did not work for us this year?

3. What are we going to different this year? (There are times I smile when I ask him what HE is going to do different 😉

For me, it keeps the importance of our ever-changing relationship and commitment to each other from acquiring resentments. This also continues to remind us our relationship is still a work in process. Our wants and needs change over the course of 12 months (and as we age). It solidifies our commitment to each other.

We had our share of bumpy roads and lots of deep potholes this year. We are reminded we are team to keep this partnership afloat. This year, we had a lot of successes that helped balance the great difficulties. We know that this coming year, we need to recommit to spend more quality time together as well as more quantity time, especially having more fun, to not let the happy times get derailed.

This year, there are definitely some more challenges ahead. It is helpful for us to remember that we can do this much better together, that we are on the same side.

I renewed for another year.