No fairytale

Yesterday we all celebrated my parents 35th wedding anniversary...

35 years... wow...that's a really long time right???

My family and I leisurely spent the morning at the Zoo Lake. With kids running around, adults sitting around and everybody having a great old time, I wondered whether my parents could ever have imagined all of this 35 years ago. Seriously, I doubt it...

Often when we hear of people who stay together, we assume that their marriage must have been some kind of bed of roses, right? The truth is, and I've seen this with my parents, marriage is a real big struggle.

I've seen them argue over silly things, argue over bigger things, smile, laugh, cry, get annoyed with each other, happy sad, frustrated, calm. I've seen them having difficulties, and then Ive seen how easy things can be. What I learnt from them, however, is that marriage is no fairytale.

We often believe that the struggle comes when trying to find 'Mr Right'. Then, we assume, everything else will go smoothly from there on out. The truth, however, is that Mr Right is just as flawed as every other human out there. By the way, so is Mrs Right! So if you think you getting married to some perfect person who won't sometimes drive you up the wall... THINK AGAIN!

My parents' marriage has taught me that marriage is something that needs to be worked at. At times you will be forced to swallow your words (which so desperately threaten to escape). At times you will be forced to give in. Always you'll have to have loads and loads of patience. That's life. That's marriage...right?

Nothing in life is a fairytale and the sooner we get that silly notion out of our heads, the sooner reality can move in. Then when we're fortunate enough to sit joyfully, 35 years from now, with our spouses... we can look back at the road we travelled on and smile at all the bumps and detours that we once had to deal with. Believe me, it'll all make for many interesting stories for all the kids and grandkids!