Marriage Moats-Embers
Published: Wed, 02/15/12
| Marriage Moats | Caring for Marriage | ||||||
|
 Our daughter Chara lives in the city now, so we don't see her as much as we used to. She came over last night with Legos for Ben and Clue for the twins. We enjoyed snapping and accusing, and dipping hummus by the fire.
As is par for the course, I went to bed just as Chara was starting round two of her evening's events. Her friends pulled into the driveway and whisked her off into the snowy darkness just as the fire was settling down to a smolder.
This morning I woke up hours before anyone and padded down the carpeted stairs. I turned on lights and cleared the residual dishes. After snuggling under a quilt on the couch I thought I heard a rustling sound. I glanced up at the fireplace and saw orange flames doing a tango behind the grate.
How could the embers have lasted? There were only a few chunks of charcoal left from last night's logs, like buoys in a sea of soot. Eight hours is a long time to hang on to heat.
But there it was, as if it had been waiting for my return.
Recently I spoke with a friend whose marriage had rekindled. Five years ago she told me it was over. After the last child packed up for college, she could not bear the thought of languishing in this blackened relationship any longer. But somewhere between the nighttime of hopelessness and the dawn of new feelings, her affection had sparked. It was not a wild burning, but it was enough to make her pull up a double wedding ring and stay. She and her husband had a partnership. In the pause between regret and dissatisfaction, there were embers of friendship.
She looked up and there was her marriage, as if it had been waiting for her return.
Photo by Chara Odhner
you can support us at
www.caringformarriage.org
|
|||||||