Down The Hall
For about 15 years now, my wife has lived down the hall. With 8 major surgeries under her belt, we can no longer sleep in the same bed. She has been in pain management for about a decade. You would think that would have been a barrier for us. Nope. We didn’t miss a beat. In fact, our amazing relationship became magical once we took separate rooms.
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I have told this story before. When we travel, we get connecting rooms. What is cool about that is the space. We have been together 20 plus years, so the need to be joined at the hip is not there. But even when we first got together, we had very different lives. We never lost our identities. But space, it actually makes our time together more meaningful. We actually talk. But wait, there’s more. {Come on that’s funny.} We actually listen to each other. I know, a 20 plus year couple that still actually listens to each other…Yep! That’s our secret.
I keep a pretty busy schedule. Wife is usually contending with her pain. But when there’s a need to connect, it just a short walk down the hall. For me, it’s like having a teenage crush on the hot chick down the street. Only now, she’s down the hall. And that has made for some pretty amazing memories.
I am actually surprised when another couple {our age} tells me that they have the same arrangement. It is actually more common than I thought. Some keep separate rooms, while others have their own bed. They don’t care what it looks like, they just know it works. It’s kind of like when we check into a hotel {we travel a lot}, the kids in their 20’s and 30’s give us a look. Those who are in their 40’s and older just kind of give us the nod of approval. Often times we get complimented, hearing something like “I totally get it, or I wish my spouse would be cool with that.”
All I am saying is that when life turned our life upside down, we figured it out. And the hidden blessings that came along with it are priceless. Our intimacy never slowed down. Each year that has passed we are more connected. And who would have thought a trip down the hall, is like your teenage crush showing up at your childhood bedroom. Can you remember that feeling as a kid? And how cool is that?
