Member-only story
•EIGHTEEN YEARS•
Ten years ago, I could not have told you that our marriage would make it. To be honest, I cannot say that I wanted it to
I hated Will. Not “I don’t like Will” — I HATED HIM
My preacher’s wife suggested counseling. I rolled my eyes, huffed in frustration, and scheduled an appointment. In reality, I didn’t want to “fix” the marriage, I wanted someone to tell me that it was ok to end it
As we walked into the counselor’s office, my blood was boiling, but my exterior was ice cold. They both felt it
I walked with intention past the “counselor sofa”, where couples are asked to sit together. I sat in a lone chair, across the room from Will, facing directly at him. I wanted no obstacles between us — I wanted him to see the anger in my face
The counselor handed us each a small piece of paper. He asked for us to write a number, one through ten, and hand it back to him. The number was to reflect what we ranked our marriage, and if we wanted to put in the work to save it. Will’s number was higher, much higher
Next, the counselor asked for each of us to write five simple, and tangible items that made us smile. Frustrated, and not sure what any of this had to do with me despising my husband, I wrote:
Diet Root Beer
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Snickers
Pens
Books
