When Life Doesn’t Go As Planned

I remember the first time my “husband” made a decision that I didn’t like. I say “husband” because we weren’t even married yet. We were still engaged and planning out the details of our wedding. We hadn’t planned a whole lot, just the time of year. I knew that I wanted an outdoor wedding so we agreed to tie the knot during one of the upcoming summer months.

It was the day he came to me and broke the news—we didn’t have the finances to get married that summer. With every ounce of my Greek-Italian self I wanted to protest. I knew our finances; I knew what he was saying was true; I knew he was just trying to step into that role as head of our soon to be home. I wanted so badly to get married that summer that I ignored the fact that we didn’t have enough money.

He suggested we get married that winter and I cried. I was heartbroken. I didn’t want to get married in a stuffy church in the middle of winter when everything outside was dead. However, the only other option was to wait a whole year and to me that was just not an option.

My world had stopped. I wanted to go somewhere quiet and dark to be alone and sulk in my depression, but he wouldn’t let me. He took me to the store and let me pick out a half-a-gallon of ice cream (take note, gentlemen). We then headed to the shops at one of our favorite spots: Westin Crown Center. When we got there the shops were closing so we walked around talking and eating ice cream out of the carton, which strangely enough actually made me feel a little better.

Then, he spontaneously suggested something crazy—run through the fountain outside. I hesitated because it was raining out, but I rationalized it through that it really doesn’t matter much if you are going to get wet anyway. So there we were, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the rain, running around in the fountain like two carefree kids. For those few moments my mind drifted from the sadness I felt to enjoying the moment with the one I loved.

Things didn’t seem so bad that night as we drove home completely soaked and laughing at ourselves. I can honestly say that night was one of the best nights of my life. What could of forever been the worst memory turned into one of my favorites.

Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned. Sometimes we find ourselves in places we don’t like. We can either sulk in the midst of our circumstance or make the most of it. I’m thankful for a husband that tries to make the most out of every hard place we have been in life. Even when I just want to go off and cry by myself or protest with anger—he lovingly leads me to do life better.