Seasons of a Marriage

Summer

Bette narrating:

When you’re married you have to face different kinds of weather. Sometimes the sun is shining and everything is bright and shiny. You can’t wait to wake up and start the next day. And you don’t want this time to ever end. And during those times you have the feeling it never will.

But then there is this moment. The moment when you realize that it isn’t like this anymore. When you realize that things aren’t always like this. You realize the sun isn’t always shining. That sometimes it can get quite stormy and cold.

So in a way you could say that marriages are like the seasons. They change...

I married Tina three years ago. It was the most amazing day of my life. It was also the most nerve-racking day of my life. You have to know that usually I’m not the nervous type. But on that day, I was so nervous. I almost couldn’t bear it. The last few hours before the ceremony I was a wreck. I was so nervous. And I was scared. I was scared that something could go terribly wrong. I was scared Tina might not show up or that she would but she would say no. Of course on some level I knew my doubts were unsubstantiated. I knew Tina was right next doors. I could hear her talking with her mom. I could hear her laughing. And I knew I had no reason to doubt our happy ending. But still, in that situation you can’t think straight. I mean, that was the biggest day in my life so far. And I still couldn’t believe it was actually happening. It wasn’t until the moment I stood in front of our friends and family, waiting for Tina, when it finally sunk in. And that moment, I will never forget.

The music started playing. I turned around. And there she was. My beautiful bride. My angel. She simply looked...breathtaking. And any doubts I might have had before where gone in that very moment.

Tina started walking down the aisle, with such elegance and grace. And I know I wasn’t supposed to but I couldn’t just stand there. I walked towards her and took her hands in mine. And as I looked into her eyes I just couldn’t help it. I had to kiss her. And I did. And that kiss, it felt as if we were kissing for the first time. A shiver was running up and down my spine. My legs were trembling, my hands shaking. And in this moment, when Tina’s lips touched mine I knew. This was it. This was the moment my life really began.

It wasn’t really that surprising that I would feel this way. When I was proposing to Tina I told her she would make me the luckiest woman on earth by marrying me. I knew nothing would make me happier. And it wasn’t surprising that I proposed to Tina in the first place. The moment I laid eyes on her I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I know it sounds like a cliché. How can you know you want to be with someone for the rest of your life simply with one look? It’s hard to explain. I just knew it. I knew Tina was the love of my life. My soulmate. The one piece that was missing to complete me. To make my life perfect.

And now Tina was my wife. Everything I’ve ever dreamed of came true that day when we said “I do.”.

And with those words the summer of our marriage began. And a great summer it was. Hot. And I’m not only talking about our honeymoon.

Everything was just perfect. Everything was bright. The sun was always shining for us. Not a single cloud on the horizon. And the first years of our marriage should become the happiest years of my life.

One of the first things Tina and I did as a married couple was looking for a house. We’ve already been living together for over a year before the wedding. Tina moved into my apartment about seven months after we started dating. And even though we always considered the apartment ‘our place’ it’s something different to actually have bought a house together. That house would really be our place. And now that Tina and I were married it was time for us. So we made arrangements with a realtor. And two months and 23 houses later we found it. The moment Tina and I set foot into the house we looked at each other and we knew it. This was it. Our new home.