When we moved into this house 51 years ago it looked different. It was just remodeled.
Today you can see that we added just about another house to the back of the original – about 37 years ago. And then we remodeled the old part of the house in 2009. You can see where we changed windows, and the siding doesn’t really match.
There’s been a lot of changes that you can see and some you can’t.
51 years ago, today Farmer and I were married. We were all nice and new back then just like our house.
Through the years we’ve remodeled our relationship. We made some things better and we caused some things to not be so good. We added on to our family. Four sons and maybe a daughter in heaven – our surprise when we get there.
So many people wax poetically about marrying their best friend. And it’s possible they did. I did not. I married the man I love.
There are more things that are different about us than the same.
He’s a cautious, cross your Ts and dot your Is. I’m more of a fly by the seat of your pants. He’s a procrastinator. I get the stuff done ASAP if possible. I jump in – sometimes too soon to help. He holds back and then offers if necessary. He’s musically talented – I like music but can’t sing or play well enough to feed a bird. There’s been times when we’ve both disliked each other, yet we still love.
We both love Jesus, our family and the farm. We both would marry again – I’m really jumping to conclusions here – haven’t asked.
Would I do anything different? Absolutpossitively I would. I would laugh more – I was born too responsible. I’d be more patient, less critical. I’d work at being more self-confident instead of needing his affirmation. I’d be more encouraging. I’d be more tolerant.
We are planning on finally tearing off the bedraggled front porch – should have been done years ago. We want to build an open porch, fix the roof and reside the whole house so it all matches.
This house will always be a work in process – I know the word should be progress, but process feels more fitting for some reason.
As the house is so is our relationship – we will always be working at it. Sometimes the work shows, sometimes not. Sometimes it looks a little mismatched on the outside, but the inside is a different story.
I’m grateful that this Farmer has stuck with me for 51 long, hard, tiring, patient testing years.
