I have heard plenty of women talk about their spouses as if they can’t stand them.  They go on and on about this or that shortcoming. They fantasize about time spent away from them.  They speak about them with disrespect, disregard, and sometimes even disgust.  They talk about how they wish their husband was more this or more that.  They idealize other women’s husbands as so much more upright, handsome, successful, thoughtful, funny, hard-working, romantic, and witty.

I have a confession to make.  I feel extremely guilty and uncomfortable when caught in the middle of one of these conversations.

I feel guilty because I can not relate to those women at all. Instead, I feel insanely lucky (or more accurately, BLESSED) to be in love with – and married to – my best friend.  He is my favorite person on the planet!  The idyllic husband that other women are wanting is exactly the kind that I undeservedly got … upright, handsome, successful, thoughtful, funny, hard-working, romantic, and witty.  There is no one I would rather spend time with than him, and I cherish every moment that we have together.

So it is hard to hear my friends/acquaintances in their misery as they scheme to avoid their husbands as much as possible.  I do not even know how to respond to their tales of woe.  I actually like who my husband is as a person, respect him immensely, and am more and more attracted to him every day!

Not that our relationship is perfect. Far from it.  In fact, I’m sure our children would love to share some real doozies with you! But conflict is not always bad.  In fact, one of the benefits of being married to your best friend is feeling the freedom to be really REALLY mad – and expressing it –  while simultaneously resting in the security that all is well and you love each other as much as ever.

So here is my apology to all of you ladies who are not in love with your best friend.  I am not writing this to criticize you or your situation in any way. Rather, I am just acknowledging how truly blessed I feel to be married to my best friend and to tell him so in a public way. Thank you, Anthony, for 21 amazingly blissful years of friendship together.  I am looking forward to many, many more!

I am so lucky to be in love with my best friend!