Sunday Guest Blog: A Car and a Question

O: Tell Mommy that I love her more than the whole entire world.

This is usually O's request of me as I tuck her in and leave her room each night. Last night, it struck me that I feel the same way about her mom. We test drove and bought at car together this weekend. After we switched drivers midway through the test-drive, our salesperson asked us how long we had been married. 

K: Eight years.

SP: It's just, you seem really happy. Like this is working. Most of the couples that come in seem like that can't stand each other. I've been married six months so I was just wondering. 

Sales tactic or no, Kate and I were glad that it was apparent from the outside that "this is working."

While this may seem like a no-brainer, after eight years of marriage and two kids, you can find yourself settling into a routine that, while comfortable and amazing all by itself, allows you to forget all the little things and little moments that lead to that big question about spending a lifetime together. After all, we met while acting together in a show, which usually leads to the briefest of brief romances. So what went right?

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not dreaming.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not dreaming.

As I fell asleep last night, I decided to relive the little moments that added up to my knowing that Kate was "the one." So, I offer the following:

  1. The composed, but never sent, email to our director to thank her for casting the most beautiful woman in the world as my romantic lead. (Yeah, that wouldn't have been creepy or inappropriate at all.)
  2. The intense rage that I felt one night after rehearsal when we were leaving the theatre and a car  almost ran Kate off the road and I saw MY life flash before my eyes and couldn't imagine it without her. (I did not begin a full pursuit as this would only have lead to jail time and perhaps real disaster, but I'm still mad at that jerk driver.)
  3. On our first official date, I tried to pay for dinner and Kate refused, arguing that we were both starving actors and that neither of us could really afford to pay for our own meal, let alone the whole meal. (We split the tab.)
  4. That time time I found myself daydreaming about being really old and I could picture Kate's wrinkled and always beautiful face next to my shriveled mug as we sat on a porch together telling young ne'er-do-wells to "get off our lawn."

All these little moments lead to a the question.  When she said, "yes," I made the decision to love Kate for the rest of my life. That was the best decision I ever made. (And fortunately for me, I think she feels the same way.)