... Because We All Love Cheese, Admit it.
Today is my 3 year anniversary with my boyfriend. In the past, my good friend Kristen and I have had conversations about anniversaries. She once told me that her Aunt and Uncle don't really celebrate birthdays but they always celebrate anniversaries. Because anniversaries take work.
If you stay alive, you get another birthday. If you go through hell and never let go of someone else's hand, you get another anniversary. I think, that MAYBE there seems to be a difference there.
What triggered this entry is the fact that I posted (on Facebook) a beautiful line from the poet Pablo Neruda with a small nod to Brian, in honor of our three years of ups and downs. Because through it all, we're still holding hands. You may think that I could have put this in a card to just him. You are perfectly right. In fact, I hesitated putting anything on Facebook because of how offended people seem to get from "sappy" affection. But I did it anyway. Partly, because I like to make those people squirm but mostly because I've been sad before. I've been lonely and depressed. I've been wanting. And Brian has taken those things away despite how much, at times, I fought to keep them.
I think people are afraid to admit the same. They stay an arms length away from those affections, to keep from admitting that we, as humans, do truly desire someone to share this time with. I used to be like that. Which is why it took two long years for Brian and I to admit (at the same time) that it was right. This was right.
Only a few minutes later after I posted my status, someone posted a collage of their significant other for his/her birthday. With said collage was the phrase, "Don't worry, nothing sappy here..." Or something along those lines. I couldn't help but laugh because a picture is worth 1,000 words. And this person posted a collage. That's a lot more sappy words than I just wrote. And mine was for an anniversary!
Granted, Brian and I may be a little cheesier than the next couple. But it is who we are and it is probably why we're dating one another and not people in other relationships.
I like to tell people how I feel. That includes how proud I am to say that I've been in a relationship for 3 years. And with everything that tried and almost did break us up, we stayed together. I love him and I wanted to make him feel special and tell people that's how I feel.
My parents have been married for almost 35 years. That means they've been together for more than that. Shit. That takes work. And I've watched them work. And I've watched them laugh. And I've watched my family grow because of their clutched hands. And I'm proud of them for that. In fact, I'm proud of any couple that stays together. Relationships can be exhausting but they can be everything else at the same time too.
In addition, why can we post friendship love but intimate love is frowned upon? Is it so we don't offend the lonely? I guess this just confuses me because the friendless can be lonely too. So I suppose the real question should be, should we express love at all?
Probably not, that'd be too happy a world to live in.
So, any of you have relationships (friends or family or significant others) you're proud of? Why? I'd love to hear. Let's get sappy.
