My honey

So this month, my online book club read a very interesting book called Lost Edens, about a woman in an abusive relationship-not physical, but emotionally abuse. It was an intriguing read for me since my own relationship is so different than hers. I couldn't understand her in many ways, but I understand that when you are in the situation, it seems different.
To be honest, I struggled over what to write-Jamie was so honest in her writing, but I couldn't think of anything that raw that I could write about (not to mention that the other members can be intimidating because they all write such polished pieces and are accomplished women, and I am sitting here typing out my ideas that always sound so much better in my head than when I actually get them down on the screen!).
In Lost Edens, author Jamie Patterson struggles to save her marriage which may or may not be already over. Keeping her attempts a secret from her family, she attempts to mold herself into the wife her husband wants her to be. As a member of From Left to Write book club, I received a copy of this book for review. You can read other members posts inspired by Lost Edens by Jamie Patterson on book club day, October 27 at From Left to Write. (Please do-the posts are fascinating! I love peeking into others' lives!)
However, as I read this book, I kept thinking how lucky I am in my relationship. My husband truly is my best friend, as well as my husband. We genuinely enjoy spending time together. He is a great Dad to our kids-they are so lucky to have him. We have known each other since we were 16 years old. I actually met him through his girlfriend at the time, a friend of mine. She graduated a year before me and went away to college, and I still saw him around our high school campus. We just clicked. We never had any trouble talking and would spend hours chatting away. And I was voted Most Shy in high school! Our last names were the same, so we started joking that one day we'd get married. In fact, the first time he brought me over to his parents' house, he introduced me as his future wife. I am sure his parents were a bit confused-who was this girl? We weren't even dating! I graduated and moved to southern California, but we kept in touch and saw each other on my school vacations when I came home. We had a core group of friends in common, and that kept us linked. We ended up kissing for the first time my freshman year winter vacation, but after mixed messages on both sides (I guess...), we ended up not speaking for almost a year. After we finally made up, we stayed close and when we started dating after I graduated from college, within one month, we knew that was it. We'd found our other half. We've been through a lot-moves, houses, apartments, jobs, hard times, good times, 3 sweet children, and 20 years after that first fateful kiss, we are still together, happily married for 11 years and looking forward to many more years together. Reading books like Jamie's makes me appreciate, once again, my luck in finding my Joe. I hope Jamie finds her other half (or maybe she has found him already! :-))