Best Mates

I've been married twice. First one was not great. Sometimes, it wasn't even good. Occasionally it was a nightmare. I'm sure I wasn't his best choice either. It happens.

My current husband is a dream. Oh, he's not perfect. But then neither am I , not that I'd admit it. Yes, he has the bad habit of not changing the toilet paper roll, of leaving a trail of dishes, candy wrappers and newspapers behind him. He leaves drawers half open and drops his clothes on the "floor-drobe" and is always forgetting where he puts things. He's mislaid his wallet, credit cards or keys more times than I care to remember. He somehow can't take a shower without leaving the entire bathroom sprayed with water. All those things, those little things, drive me nuts. I can be quite the dragon at times when I'm forced to clean up after a grown man who should know better. Again.

But in all ways that really count, I would not trade him for his weight in gold. He is kind, considerate, thoughtful, and treats me like the queen I think I am. He is intelligent and loving and respectful. He's a hard worker and is concerned that he take care of me to the best of his ability. OK, he burps like a foghorn and he sneezes loud enough to break glass and has an overactive colon. (Don't ask.) Oh yeah, sometimes life in our house is pure magic. But when all is said and done, I couldn't be luckier to have found him, half way across the world, over the internet. I knew he was the one, in caps...THE ONE. So much so that we were engaged before we ever met face to face.

We have been married since 2002. Almost eight years now. And we have yet to have a fight. Don't get me wrong, we do disagree. But having endured a first marriage where the blame game reached Olympic status (I was always on the losing team) and violent anger was always a danger, I am blessed to live with someone who I can talk to, be honest with, and receive the same in return. People who meet us for the first time think we've been married for eons, we are so totally comfortable with each other. We love each other warts and all. (Not actual warts, that would be a bit icky. You know what I mean, flaws and imperfections and stuff.) We make decisions together. We make each other laugh and we laugh like lunatics all the time. We enjoy talking to each other and take pleasure in each other's company. We listen to each other's advice on our respective careers. I trust him explicitly.

When we met, in some internet chat room, we became friends first and talked together a lot. And then he came to visit me in Honolulu. And two years later we were married. I pulled up stakes from Hawaii where I had spent my entire life, and moved to the southern hemisphere to Australia to make a new life at the age of 52. My friends thought I was a complete idiot and expected me to come home after a few months full of regret and disappointment and over my mid-life crisis, but they now realize what I always knew...he's my best mate.

So honey, when I'm irritated because I have to wade through a pile of your clothes to get to the dresser in the morning, or have a mild cardiac because I expected you to trim the vines on the patio and you instead chopped them down to the nubs, or I'm picking up assorted rubbish you've left on the table...just remember this: I LOVE YOU.

But seriously, would it kill you to change that toilet paper roll?