Angie: How many years have we been married?
Ron: We have been married 13 years and 5 months.
Angie: And, what do you think is the secret to our marriage success?
Ron: It is a secret so I may not know, but anyway. Chuckle. Seriously, Umm?
Angie: Not sure what’s been the key that’s been keeping us together?
Ron: One thing I know that we share, similar interest, our faith is one of those things that we do share. Er, for good or for bad we are academics.
Angie: Yeah, I like to say book worms but, yeah, academics sounds nicer.
Ron: We communicate well. I think that is one of the things that we do well.
Angie: Most times, yeah we do.
Ron: It is usually on my part anyway.
Angie: Yeah, you would say that, you’re so unbiased, chuckles. Well, okay, for what it’s worth you are a good communicator.
Ron: And so are you too.
Angie: I’m glad you think so.
So is there anything that you would do differently? I mean it’s been 13 years, Umm. Is there something that you would go back and change, Umm, about when we first got married or anything?
Ron: What would I do differently?
Sigh, I guess it’s kind of hard to answer the question primarily because, ours has not been the typical marriage so to speak.
Angie: And what do you mean by that? It’s not typical?
Ron: Sigh, well, on average most married couples, umm, aren’t in school for….
Angie: The majority of time we’ve been married, that’s what you’re referring to?
Ron: Right, 10 years kind of a thingy, so, I suppose if it was possible to do that, Umm, that one of us do school.
Angie: Yeah, you know I thought about that recently, I was thinking if we had done, like sought of a tag team relay, you’re in school and I’m working, then I’m in school and you’re working then it might be different. But you know somehow from talking with other people who have a partner who is not in school, while they’re in school or vice versa. You get the sense that, that can be its own challenge.
Because one partner feels that they are bearing too much of the burden and/or the other partner being in school it’s like two different worlds.
Ron: Yes, one of the things is that the complaints that you get is they don’t understand.
Angie: Yeah, so having that shared experience, I think that’s okay, but I suppose, it may not have taken us this long if we had tag team it. Maybe I would have been nagging you so much more to get finished, sooner and vice versa, maybe?
Ron: Maybe,…
Angie: Chuckles, yeah, I guess we’ll never know. So, we have so much in common, we’ve got, I think, 13 successful years. Do you think we are soul mates?
Ron: I’ve always had problems with that terminology.
Angie: Yeah! The soul mate idea, why?
Ron: Readymade for each other kind of thing, Umm…,
Angie: The stars coming in alignment, fireworks as they saw him walk into the room.
Ron: Okay, okay, okay
Angie: I knew his heart was mine
Ron: Enough of the mellow drama.
Angie: Chuckles
Ron: Seriously. I don’t think necessarily that there is this one mate for you. Many times people would say it is not getting the right person but being the right person as such. So soul mate is too deterministic for me. So yeah, the fact is we have grown up together as it were.
Angie: So when you say ‘grown up together’ where did we meet? Chuckles
Ron: chuckles.
Angie: Because it sounds like we were in the sandbox together and I don’t remember that, chuckles.
Ron: Where did we meet? So we met sometime prior to when we actually met and Er..
Angie: Hit things off?
Ron: Yes, so it was at the campus of college where we did meet. Our Alma Mater, undergrad. You were ahead of me and I needed someone to type and you were working in a position that allowed for those kinds of privileges. So, that’s where we met.
Angie: I remember, when you came it was, Umm. You had come from teaching at Westport, I don’t remember how you found me, I don’t think you had called or anything then I remember you coming by that was in fall of ’96 you came by and effectively explained that you were starting the program an d stuff but I don’t think that first time we met you had indicated that you needed somebody to type your papers but I think that came after when you realized the job I was carrying which was working as the administrative assistant in the office.
Ron: Those details are…
Angie: Are fuzzy? You were wearing one of those stiff starched shirts that you own, a brown and white one.
Ron: How does that sound like I have a stiff upper lip? Anyway,…
Angie: No, no, no it’s just that you kind of like ironing, anyway that is another tangent.
Ron: Yes, chuckles
