The Thankful Project Day 11 - Something I Was Taught

Topic: Something I Was Taught

There are many things I could write about this topic, but I figured I should choose just one. And since today is my parents' 35th wedding anniversary, I want to write about what they have taught me about marriage.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a home with both of my parents being present and supportive of my brothers and I. And most of the time, they made it seem like marriage wasn't hard work. Now that I've been married for over 9 years, I understand that marriage is hard work sometimes, but it's also tremendously rewarding. Now I understand the sacrifices my parents each had to make in order to keep our family together and strong.

My parents and I on my wedding day

So the thing that I am most grateful that they taught me about marriage is that it's about working together and compromising. My parents are both very unselfish and even though I haven't mastered that, I feel that I have been better prepared than some people are to manage the give and take of marriage. And even in difficult times, they taught me that instead of thinking about what is best for me, it's better to think of what is best for us.