I mentioned in yesterday’s post that Jen and I had been at each other’s throats since the end of the wedding. I realized that that may sound worse than it actually is. Not that things aren’t wonderful nor that we love each other any less. Quite the contrary. I thought I would try to explain what I meant a bit more. Simply put, this explanation I IM’d to a friend earlier today is the best way to describe how married life has been:
gabe: it’s good. we were talking last night about how nothing has really changed, but there’s this weird societal pressure that makes us feel as though things should be a certain way.
In other words, our relationship is still the same…we still live together, go to the same jobs, care for the same dogs. But now we wear these rings and have this certificate that says we’re married. And society dictates certain things about marriage — that it should be immediately happy and wonderful. Now that we’ve realized this unspoken pressure and how silly it is, we’re OK to move on. That and we’ve had time to process all the little wedding things that weren’t quite right. We’ve accepted those and continue to reminisce about what a wonderful time it was.
Now that I know what to expect and have met Jen’s entire extended family, I’m ready to go back to the wedding to enjoy it all over again.