That Little Thing Called Married Love – Do You Recognise It When It Comes Along?

Married love can be a thing all its own, and only those inside it will recognise it, really; and only the fortunate few have it in their lives. 

So much of what we know about love, we learn from movies and books. Dashing dudes on motorcycles and sultry femmes in their pastel best. A formula for romance, peppered with grand gestures and heady kisses. Ah, so magical! We yearn for those fireworks and try our hardest to replicate the same formula in our lives.

And yes, sometimes Love is dazzling. Scary in its intensity, thrilling, all-consuming. Verses of poetry waiting on our work desk. A dozen roses, simply because. He’s loud, he’s magnetic, and he takes your breath away. You walk around in a daze, drunk on this love.

Sometimes Love is plain boring. Filling out loan applications together. Attending his tiresome coworker’s party. “Babe, what’s for dinner?” “Hey can you pick Kiddo up from school today?”

You wake up hating the non-drama. Envying the newlyweds next door. Mr. Hot Guy and Mrs. Perky Boobs. Wasn’t that you once upon a time? You look over at your husband, making you hot chocolate with infinite patience. Trying to cheer you up with a droopy little rose he plucked from the backyard. And suddenly you want to kiss him right there in front of the kids because how did you get so lucky?!

Often Love is difficult. It requires you to be unselfish. To care for someone else even if you’re just as sick. To forgive angry words said in heated voices. To see past wet towels on the floor and work meetings on Sundays. It takes every ounce of patience to not scream. Fights, sulk fests, smudged rivulets of mascara on white pillowcases. You’re shocked by how hard marriage is. But you vow to work harder on your relationship. You’re a warrior and he’s worth fighting for.

And then sometimes Love takes a little nap. Years of togetherness, decades of comfort with each other’s routines. He forgets your birthday, you lose that watch he got you for your first anniversary. Life and kids and a million pesky things come between you. One day, he gets home a hastily wrapped present. Perplexed, you open it, while he hops around on his middle-aged feet. It’s a rather ugly watch with a too-large dial.

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“Do you like it? Do you like it?”

And you do! You adore the damn thing, just like you cherish this darling man standing before you. Guess what? Naptime is over. And hey, Love was always a light sleeper!

Married love can be dazzling or subtle, dull or infuriating. It can be all of these types at different times for different people. And some days, love sleeps for a really long while. But there‘s no right or wrong here. Our relationships are our own unique experiences and how we cherish our spouses. Married Love is more of a verb and less of an established noun.

Occasionally love comes in bursts and waves, like a glorious thunderstorm. You can get drenched in it and swept off your feet. But like a gentle rain that nourishes, love can also be quiet. Modest and unappreciated for its simplicity. We must be careful not to overlook the unsaid because often the biggest acts of love happen in the quietest moments.

So much of what we know of love, we learn from movies. Dashing dudes and sultry femmes with their grand gestures and heady kisses.

But if you asked me, I’d choose that droopy little rose any day.

A version of this was first published here.

Image source: a still from the movie Badhaai Ho

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