Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Into the great wide open

A couple of my friends have husbands that work out of town during the week and come home on the weekends. Jason used to work one week a month in NC and then 3 days a week in Tampa every week and he would stay over there because it didn't make sense for him to travel back and forth. I honestly don't know how my friends do it without their husbands coming home every night to relieve them and help with the kids and the house and every other mundane everyday task that consumes our lives. Jason and I never fought more than when he was traveling. It was hell on our relationship and there wasn't really a resolution short of him quitting his job.

I had never felt so stretched, so invisible and so small than that time in our marriage. He didn't do it on purpose, he was consumed. Our priorities were not aligned and I felt like a single parent. We would pick at each other and knew exactly what buttons to push to set off another round. I think that we both just wanted attention from the other and to feel validated but weren't getting what we needed. Negative attention is still attention.

I write this because Jason getting "terminated" from that job was the best thing to ever happen to us. Sure, we have no money and we are stressed beyond belief because our life is so uncertain, but there is excitement in that as well...a sense of adventure, a journey that we are braving together with a united front. My husband is one of the smartest people I know. His knowledge of his industry is deep and his energy is undiminishing. He is set on doing things right and with integrity. He will make a name for himself but not because he's going to make a ton of money but because he is true to his word and will perform and do what he says he will do.

He's still learning how to balance his work and his family, but he is making great strides. I love him so much and I am so proud of him and so proud to be his wife. I am excited to be his partner and learn from him and build this business together and invest our time in a future for our family. I am not afraid of failure because I have never seen Jason so passionate about what he was doing in his work. We're on the edge of something big and with him holding my hand I am ready to jump in with both feet. My love. My best friend.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Man, Jason is lucky to have such a supportive wife!

I hope Laurie feels like I help her out, but let me tell you from the 'other side' that we rely on the great support of our wives more than you can imagine. It is hard knowing that you have to work your tail off to make the business work and still make sure you're not leaving your family behind.

I'm lucky to have such a supportive wife, and I bet Jason would say the same.

To attain true success you have to have a two player team in my opinion - all of the great business leaders and successful entrepreneurs that I look up to have had long lasting marriages that have survived the rocky road and the mountain highs.

Good luck to you two!