Today we celebrate 11 years of marriage. The reality of 11 years and 4 children together is that for the most part, it’s just another day. We’re putting off celebrations for another couple days since the boys had 4-H tonight. So while Jon took the boys, I’m holding down the fort with the girls. Teamwork at its finest.
While holding down said fort, I decided to clean the laundry room. Mostly because I flooded it the other day and it’s been driving me bonkers ever since (pro tip: don’t multitask). In doing so, I realized how great a representation a laundry room really is of your life. I mean, show me a mom who hasn’t said the likes of laundry is life: she doesn’t exist. My laundry room makes it quite apparent a lot of freaking people live here. And it’s messy. Much like life. As I wiped the washer down, I noted the cycles: heavy duty, normal, delicate, express, soak. Throughout a marriage, you’re sure to need each of these cycles. In the past 11 years, we’ve been very fortunate. Life runs mostly on the “normal” cycle. At our house, that’s a lot like throwing everything in with a color catcher and hoping for the best. But in 11 years of marriage, we’ve found sometimes our load requires a new cycle. There’s the heavy duty stuff, namely losing two pregnancies. It requires leaning on one another and knowing that God has a plan. And being grateful you have one another. The delicate cycle – Jon would probably say that’s best used monthly. Then there’s express, the cycle I used this morning when Jon needed one shirt in particular and you guessed it – he was out of his favorite underwear - express is how we sometimes live our lives. Our plates, much like the laundry baskets, are piled high. On-the-go, fast-paced, always a child involved in this or that, little time to breathe…. SOAK. I think that’s the cycle we should aim to use most. Soak in the moments. Soak in one another.
While I cleaned, I asked Alexa to play Sir Rosevelt’s “Something bout you”. It came on the radio the other day and when Jon turned it up and told the kids it reminded him of their mom, I made sure to listen carefully. It warmed my heart and made me smile on the inside. Because through the daily grind, my hair goes unwashed (much like the laundry), I run around like crazy feeling like death warmed over and to think he could look at me and still feel like there’s just somethin’ bout {me} – it makes me feel pretty special.
I’m so lucky to have found the one who, no matter the cycle, keeps life running smoothly. He's the one who grounds me, calms me, calls out my crazy, and loves me no matter what. Through thick and thin – normal to heavy duty – I know he’d never hang me out to dry. There’s no one else I’d rather do laundry with. And y’all know there’s a lot of it!
Now it’s off to wrap the headphones I found in the laundry room that Jon “lost” oh, maybe a year ago?! Happy Anniversary! Hey, at least I know he’ll like them 😉
