I came across this article on a news site today:
I didn’t read it, but just that blurb made me think. Compromising is one of those things I never really thought much about before. Sara and I never fought (not a real fight, at least) and we were really good about compromising when it was necessary.
I never used to have a TV in the bedroom, but Sara needed it to sleep, so I adjusted. At one point I requested Sara start getting rid of cookbooks if she was going to bring more in the house, and she found some she was willing to part with. I remember getting rid of some of her old wooden cooking utensils that had absorbed way too much stuff over the years for me to be comfortable cooking with them anymore, but I decided not to say anything when she either bought more or was gifted some from her wish list… though I may have shaken my head (I’m more of a silicone cooking utensils person).
I miss compromising with Sara. In my mind (and it seemed in hers, too) our love for each other and our relationship was ultimately more important than anything we ever haggled over, a truth that guided our interactions and our life together.
I know no one wins when we compare grief or hardships, but it does grate my nerves a little when people complain about having to be around their significant others all the time due to the pandemic. What I wouldn’t give to have to compromise with Sara about anything one more time… to decide who gets to pick what’s on TV, or what we want for dinner, or what will be in our next grocery order. It’s really not that much fun being the sole decision maker again, when I had a partner who made making these decisions so much better, on a day to day basis. As Sara and I always told each other, often when snuggling, “Being with you is always better than not being with you….”