{"id":121,"date":"2011-01-09T19:55:27","date_gmt":"2011-01-10T01:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/?p=121"},"modified":"2011-01-09T20:04:12","modified_gmt":"2011-01-10T02:04:12","slug":"marriage-and-automobiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/marriage-and-automobiles\/","title":{"rendered":"Marriage and Automobiles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, my family loaded up for the weekly trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. \u00a0We literally have to go over the river and through the woods to get there.<\/p>\n

As we were on our way home, we passed a junkyard: \u00a0a.k.a. car cemetery. \u00a0I looked over and saw an old SUV covered in rust with no tires, no doors, and grass growing around the edges and thought, “you know, at one time, that car was the excitement of someone’s life.” \u00a0Figuring this would be an interesting topic of conversation with my husband, I repeated out loud what my head was thinking. \u00a0“You know, honey, those cars, at one time, were bright shiny and new. \u00a0They had a new car smell, and somebody thought it was the best thing in this world to be the owner of that car.” \u00a0Then, it dawned on me, and I could not resist, “kind of like marriage, huh?” \u00a0We both laughed out loud.<\/p>\n

We continued along this line of conversation for a while, and this was my conclusion. \u00a0Yes. \u00a0All of those cars in the graveyard were once the most prized possession of someone: \u00a0just like the beginning of marriage. \u00a0You get in your new car, take a deep breath and smile a bit. \u00a0You settle into the seat, making slight adjustments to the mirrors, and then you commence to pushing all the buttons to see what happens. \u00a0Just like the beginning of marriage. \u00a0Then, you take it for a spin. \u00a0You start out slow to get the hang of the steering wheel and gas peddle, but after a bit, you decide you need to, “see what this baby can do”. \u00a0 Just like the beginning of marriage.<\/p>\n

After you have gotten yourself comfortable with the way the car handles, you tend to push your luck a bit. \u00a0You take a curve a bit faster than before putting yourself in danger. \u00a0You get a little closer to the stop sign before you put on breaks. \u00a0How is this like marriage? \u00a0Well, once you are comfortable, you start to test your capabilities as a spouse. \u00a0After that first “wreck”, you start to realize you can either keep on driving this way, or you can lean back a bit and enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n

So, 5 years later, you have had this same car. \u00a0No longer does that new car smell surround you. \u00a0No longer do you have to seek out the radio buttons or windshield wiper switch. \u00a0You instinctively know where these things are located. \u00a0You know the speed the car rides the best at, and you know how to handle the steering. \u00a0It has become part of you. \u00a0The new has worn off, but you still love or hate the comfort of your broken in car.<\/p>\n

The life of a car can take many roads, but the 2 most taken are these: \u00a0kept so well it becomes an antique that most people envy or a bucket of rust on a patch of earth that is forgotten. \u00a0These are the two most common outcomes for marriage as well. \u00a0It is either one of those marriages people look to as what they desire for themselves, or, it becomes a marriage of resentment, or worst yet, indifference. \u00a0Either way, the marriage is, in essence, dead.<\/p>\n

As we began to talk about these ideas, Steve and I realized the only way a marriage can become an “antique” is with a lot of love, a lot of work, a lot of care, and a lot of dedication. \u00a0I certainly hope we can remember this the next time our marriage needs a new alternator. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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You start out slow to get the hang of the steering wheel and gas peddle, but after a bit, you decide you need to, “see what this baby can do”. Just like the beginning of marriage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-marriage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions\/123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}