I just read some marriage advice to define your relationship by the positive moments, not the negative ones. And the Reverb prompt for August is to write about a moment in July. Both of these things have me remembering a coffee date my husband and I took.
We both ordered our usual from the Starbucks in the downtown we loitered in as high school students, a downtown we dated in during high school. After we had our drinks, I said, “Let’s walk to the fountain in the park!” So we did, holding hands.
When we got to the fountain, we followed the sidewalk around the fountain, and then started walking away from it. I said, “But I thought we were walking to the fountain!”
“We were walking to the fountain,” said Tim. “Now we’re walking somewhere else.”
“Where?” I asked, sipping my mocha.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll decide where we turn next. And then you can decide the next turn.” And so our walk turned into a collaborative adventure, where we negociated rules and took turns. We played a game of our own making, like kids on a playground. It was social, therapeutic play – taking turns at inconsequential decisions, but deciding together our destinations.
I want our marriage to be defined by moments like that, where we play, where we lovingly hold hands and wander old stomping grounds.
Practicing Empathy 