Marriage Moats-Solitude
Published: Fri, 04/19/19
| Solitude | Caring for Marriage |
 Last month I spoke with a woman whose marriage is a lonely place. Addiction has left a deep gorge between her and the man she promised to love forever.
The confusing part is that her husband is not anywhere near that man either. The man who loved her above all things, who showed compassion for others, whose integrity was ironclad, has lost his way. The man who shows up every day is a slave to alcohol and anger.
She spoke freely on the phone, and as she poured out her life I felt swallowed up by the hopelessness of it all. I wanted to leap on a plane and come visit her, send her something, anything to soften the edges of her pain.
If I were writing the script, I would have gotten anxious and plunked a happy ending to her struggle about three years ago, in the form of a twelve step recovery.
But I am not penning her life.
As I reflect on the whys and what nexts of her commitment to marriage, I am humbled.
She is climbing a different pinnacle than I. Her tenacity expands with each year she does not walk away, while still maintaining her sense of worth, finding small pockets of joy in different corners than she once expected.
When this story is done, she may not find the man she first fell in love with at the peak. Maybe she will.
But I would feel incredibly blessed to look into her strong and beautiful face, as she beholds the victory of her own steady climb.
Love, Lori |
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