I would like to put a different spin on the Marriage Challenge that we have all seen on social media in the past week. There will be no photos to tell my story. You should thank me because you can’t un-see some things.
I had my back surgery 5 days ago. I promised that I would take a break on the blog until the meds wore off. I think they have for the time being. We have been married for 31 years. This surgery is the fourth surgery that I have had in the past year. This has been a Marriage Challenge for sure.
I will not post any pictures of my husband helping me to roll out of bed to help me get to the bathroom all day long for the first couple of days. I will not post pictures of him sleeping in the guest room in the twin beds that are too short for him instead of our nice, comfy queen bed that is too high off of the ground for me to get in.
I will not post any pictures of him trying to make me a comfy spot to sit in the den complete with lots of bed pillows, ice packs, and cozy blankets. I don’t have pictures of him making me my breakfast smoothie that I have had every morning for the past 6 years with 5 ice cubes in the blender, water to the 1 cup mark, milk to the 2 cup mark, one banana, a scoop of protein powder, and 10 frozen cherries.
I am not allowed to wash my hair or blow dry it myself because I am not supposed to raise my arms over my head for at least the first two weeks. The nurse told me at discharge to make an appointment at a salon and let them do it every 2-3 days. I didn’t get a picture of my husband walking me into Ulta last Saturday carrying my purse on his shoulder and a bed pillow to put behind my back while I got my hair shampooed and dried. There is no picture of him selecting three shower caps that he picked up off the rack for me to select so that I could shower without getting my hair wet. I will not post a picture of him standing in line up front to pay for the service and the products while I sat in the back with my pillow.
This is a Marriage Challenge. We are smack dab in the middle of for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death us do part. We get on each others nerves at times. He is never on time, he acted like a deaf person when we had dogs that wanted to go out. I am high maintenance (the smoothie alone, my gosh). I know what I want and how I want it. We are lucky to have each other because I don’t know who else would have us.
Marriage can’t be summed up in pictures. It can only be summed up in action. We are at the end of Day 5 of a long recovery. I am not sure how long he can keep up with my whims. So far he is winning at the sickness and in health part.
Ta Ta for now. Kiss. Kiss.
She writes about life, death, grief, and recovery.
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