When the Good Times Rolled…

Dear Reader,

(It would be wrong of me to start this story as though I married a villain. I didn’t. I married a great guy. So in this post I’ll describe just a bit of how great he was in the beginning…)

When we first married, we lived in a small studio apartment and had 2 cars that were being financed. Ends met every month, and even had a little to save afterwards.

When our first Valentine’s day rolled around, he told me that he wanted to do something special but that it just wasn’t in the budget just yet and that he’d make it up to me in a few weeks. We’d been married roughly 3 months at that point and, despite our financial woes, he’d surprise me with thoughtful gifts and surprise dates all the time so delaying Valentine’s was no big deal for me.

I went ahead and signed up to work that evening and just treated it as an ordinary day. After work, I and my coworkers walked to our cars yelling our goodnights but when I unlocked my car and the lights came on I noticed that there was something inside my car…

Balloons! 🎈

Huge heart-shaped balloons with smaller heart shaped balloons inside them! I could barely get in the car and I certainly couldn’t use the rear view mirror, they were everywhere! When I went to put my purse in the passenger seat I noticed a bear holding a single pink rose sitting there! I was speechless and I couldn’t figure out when he had the time to do all of that! My coworkers, hearing my excitement, were oohing and aahing and some were a bit annoyed. But justly so, I literally Gushed about him ALL THE TIME! He was just too perfect not to talk about!

I have plenty of stories, just like this one, where he’d go out of his way to show how much he cared. I’ll share two more short stories with you…

Before we married, I moved into my own place and, because I got off work late at night, I was really nervous to be in the parking lot and walk to my door by myself. So, without asking, he’d meet me every night in my parking lot and walk me to my door, so I wouldn’t be alone. When he made it back home, to his apartment, he’d call to make sure I was still okay. This meant everything to me, because although I moved into a decent place, the lady below me had moved out after being robbed in the same parking lot while her kids were with her!

Finally, on the weekends, he’d wake up early (early being 11 something) to wash our cars and then fill them with gas for the week. And the scents he’d put in the vents or around the rearview mirror were always special and he had to explain why he chose that particular scent this time and give me a long story behind it. I’d of course listen, because he was so sincere and the thought he’d put into the smallest things baffled me.

You could not convince me that didn’t marry the best man ever…

And because he fell right into his role as a husband, it made being a wife easy!

I baked and cooked daily. I did laundry and learned to iron. (Don’t judge me, I was new lol) I cleaned and just tried to make his life easier because that’s what he did for mine.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t perfect. He did things that annoyed me too. Like, blow his nose in the hand towels or peeing in the shower or spitting in the kitchen sink! But those were some of the funniest debates EVER!

I can’t tell you how great those memories are!

But life happened…

My husband lost his job and his father within a month of each other. Both were completely unexpected. Unfortunately, you can’t know how someone will react to things, like a job loss or losing a parent, until they happen…

It was after those events that he began to change…

It was a gradual change…

Abuse, typically, doesn’t usually start with physical abuse or even verbal abuse…

It usually starts small…

…with something excusable or even tolerable…

And it builds from there…

Signed,
The Good Times

P.s. Next post is in 7 days!!!