Marriage Moats-Beauty and the Beast

Published: Fri, 08/10/12

Marriage Moats

Caring for Marriage

(If you want to hear Lori read the story click)

The kids were watching Beauty and the Beast. I have never seen the whole movie, though I have sewn a pretty impressive Belle dress for Halloween if I do say so myself. But I have heard the songs. The one that caught my attention this time had a line about relationships.

"Hardly even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly."

I thought about times when the walkway between John and I feels like a frozen lake. The word friends is too balmy. Cohorts, as we herd these kids, maybe. Business associates as we deal with the bills. But friends is like a shrunk sweater. It does not fit.

"Then somebody bends."

Often it is John. He offers a word of appreciation. His hand reaches for mine. He mutes the barbed rebuttal.

"Unexpectedly."

It does not take a hero to be kind when you are well fed, out of debt, pain free and had a full night's sleep. Kindness, or at the very least, cordiality, is expected. But plunk that person into a throbbing, sleep deprived body with a stack of medical invoices in his fist, and the beast starts roaring.

I like the premise of the movie. A selfish, angry beast gradually morphs into a compassionate prince. It is a slow process, if you can call ninety minutes slow. In real time it takes ninety years, though John is pretty princely just shy of sixty.

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