This weekend is another milestone for my husband and I.  We will be celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary. Sometimes it’s still truly a miracle it got this far.

I say that tongue in cheek, only because I can’t imagine most of my adult life without him. We had to conquer a few severe storms along the way, but just as after a hurricane, you  just rebuild if you choose too. No one could have ever told me that I would spend the majority of my existence with just one person.

Back in the day, I was a free spirit. I enjoyed hanging out and not being tied down to any one guy. Then I got attached to the wrong kind of guy. That debacle taught me a lot about life in a real short time. It also changed me as a person. It has taken me many years to get back to the girl I was. Some of that credit goes to my husband. He has been a rock, to a certain extent. His focus has always been reminding me on how hard I am on myself.

There have been days where I could have thrown the sink at him like the old saying goes. Then I would just stop and remind myself how silly I was behaving, and how lucky I was to have him. When I get to a point of exasperation, I think how he still makes me feel when he comes through the front door every night. Something must be working if I still get that feeling, especially 33 years later.

This marriage brought me a stability I had lost back in the bad one I had years ago. Knowing who I had waiting for me too, at the end of the day, made me feel that I could conquer anything. I have gotten back my edge more and more. This relationship has stood the test of time.

Suffice it to say, not everyone is so fortunate. But then my definition of stability, may not be another person’s. Some of those around me say I have stability at my place of employment, since I have been there now for 36 years. I don’t feel that way. If anything, I feel a constant pressure since I have to keep a certain quality of performance to keep that job.

My stability is my family and my home. These two things have always kept me sane. There is no pressure. I can be who I am.  Knowing that my children are doing well and in happy relationships themselves, just add to my feeling of stability. This time of year is a perfect example of when that feeling can help you the most. It keeps the pressure down, to a point of course, but enough where I can bring it back to my normal.

So this weekend will be spent at our happy place, the beach, celebrating what makes us who we are. We will toast to having made it to another year and hopefully many more ahead!