Still Figuring Things Out

Being married is hard. It is hard to get along with someone who necessarily has different ideas, different priorities, different emotional responses... someone who just isn't you, no matter how similar or well-suited you may be for each other. The thing is, I'm starting to think that it isn't one of those things that you eventually have all figured out. I'm starting to think that being married is just one of those things that you will always have to work at for ever and ever (or at least as long as you wish to stay married).
My parents are a shining example of how you have to keep working at staying married. My mom and dad were married in September of 1967, nearly 42 years ago. Sometimes I wonder what made them think they should get married to each other, they are that different in nearly every way imaginable, but they did and they have made it work. Despite different tastes in everything from entertainment, to travel, to religion, and so on, their marriage has endured. They made it work through raising 7 kids, several of whom were particularly difficult to raise. They made it work through being apart for extended periods of time (since my dad was a traveling salesman for over 35 years). They made it work through difficult financial times. And they are making it work through raising a pair of their grandchildren. I have often thought that maybe they have had to work harder at staying married than other people who seem to be more similar, but the longer I'm married, the more I think it's hard work for everyone.
Landon and I are pretty opposite from my parents in terms of similarities. Although we have plenty of differences, Landon and I are pretty similar and, I think anyway, very well suited for each other. However, even after nearly 11 years of being together, we are still figuring things out . . . still making adjustments and still working hard at staying married. We still sometimes have fights. We still sometimes fail to anticipate how our words or actions might affect the other and end up with hurt feelings and damaged egos. And while we have less of these unpleasant times than we used to, I don't know that we are ever going to stop them completely.
So, in an effort today to mend some hurt feelings and repair our damaged egos, I want to express my sincere and deep gratitude for my husband. It's healing for both of us.
I appreciate Landon for everything he is. I am grateful for his great intelligence and how it helps guide me in making decisions and figuring out the world around me. I am grateful for his tender heart and how it helps me see people around me with greater understanding and sympathy. I am grateful for his selflessness and how it helps me to be a better mother, a better friend, a better daughter and a better person. I am grateful for his thoughtfulness and how it helps me to feel loved. I am grateful for his commitment to our family and how it helps me endure even the most difficult parts of being a mom and raising a family. I am grateful for his sense of humor and how it helps me to enjoy life and take things just a little less seriously. I am grateful for his confidence and how it helps me to continue working on being a better woman, wife, mother. Most of all, I am grateful that Landon loves me for me, even though I often make that a rather difficult task.
Thank you, Landon. I love you. IEU.