They say there are three rings in marriage:  the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering.  Four years ago today the wife and I exchanged the second of these rings.  The third started much, much earlier, but that’s a post for another day.

I consider this an accomplishment for which we’ll welcome congratulations, as many people don’t even make it this far.  In most of the Western world it is known that between forty and sixty percent of marriages end in divorce.  I once read that a very high percentage (I cannot remember the exact figure) of these marriages that fail, fail within the first two years.  That tells me the wife and I have already beaten some considerable odds to get where we are today.

And it hasn’t been easy.  There have been days where neither of us have spoken a word to each other.  There have been days when I stood at our fourth-storey window, not admiring the view, but measuring the distance to the ground and calculating whether it is high enough for a lethal fall or whether I should try and lure her onto the roof.  I’m sure there have been days where both of us simply wanted to walk out.  But we didn’t, and for that I am extremely grateful. Continue reading “On Marriage” →