Keeping Love Alive in a Marriage
Keeping love alive: it’s vital not only for you and your spouse, but for your kids, too. With the busyness and demands of an ever expanding family, work, and community life, gestures of love can take a back seat pretty quickly. However, love is as important and nourishing as healthy food. Sometimes, it may be the one thing that gives your family hope and strength in times of crisis.
Over time, keeping love alive in a marriage takes a little persistence and creativity. In that spirit, I share this story of…a truck? Yep, a truck. I hope it brings up romantic memories in your own life and inspires some ideas for rekindling that romance. I’d love to hear them in the comments!!
Let me tell you about this 1985 Silverado.
So… I love this truck. Here’s why.
Scott had this Silverado when we met, the summer before I started college. He kept it all through our courtship. We’d take the Silverado for long drives out in the country, dreaming about our future together. In my mind, the truck was a vital part of those early days of romance.
We married six years after our first meeting, and soon after, we started our family. It was around that time when Scott sold this masterpiece of a vehicle. Regret quickly set in. I don’t think he knew how much he’d miss the Silverado, and he spoke of it often.
Keeping Love Alive: a Little Help from the Kids
Through the years, I began to regret the decision, too. So a few years ago, I set out on a mission to find that Silverado! I knew the guy Scott had sold it to, and I started by contacting him. He had long since sold the truck, but incredibly, I was able to track it down.
I tried to buy the Silverado from its new owner for Scott’s Christmas present, but my attempts stayed just that–attempts. Then I had an idea. One of my kids is an amazing negotiator, so I asked him to do his best to get the truck for me for Scott’s and my anniversary.
Eventually, Hampton succeeded. What’s so cool is that he managed to get the Silverado for our Silver Anniversary! Scott was overjoyed to have his old truck back.
Well, almost. The truck was in decent condition, but pretty over the top with a velvet roof, low-rider seats, and carpet on the doors. It was also in great need of a paint job. Scott started fixing it up right away, and today it looks exactly like it did in the old days of our early romance.
Who knew a truck could hold such beautiful memories? What holds romantic memories for you? Maybe it’s not a thing but a place. And maybe you don’t actually need to get it back physically. Sometimes, just talking about the memories you made together is enough to keep love alive.
What a wonderful story of the Silverado. It just goes to show that if you want something bad enough, you just don’t give up. Persistence is the key to most everything we attain in life. When I saw the beginning of your story, it immediately brought to mind my own story of a truck and the dating process. My first husband and I dated in his Dad’s red International Harvester truck. We would drive to a nearby Army Base that had been abandoned since World War II and shoot the 22 pistol and come back with a couple of ticks that were a result of mingling with the pine trees and brush. The truck was missing low gear, so you had to start off in second. No problem. It was just part of the journey. Unfortunately, we only had 15 years of marriage but the memories are sweet and easily recollected. Thank you for sharing your story and giving me a glimpse back in time to my own truck memory. Back then, in the 50’s, the girlfriend would sit so close to the boyfriend while he was driving the truck, it almost looked like one person with two heads. You never sat in the passenger seat. Fun memories!!!
Absolutely Jane! What great memories. I love those bench seats. I love that you can fit 3 people in the front too!! What wonderful memories you have. I’ll bet that red International was the best. And I agree about persistence. I tell my kids, “just show up everyday to the thing you want to do or become.” It will happen! Thanks for your comment! I enjoyed reliving the memory with you!
I love your stories and your recipes. I’m sorry but I have not gotten one of your cookbooks yet ay my age (72) and with my other cookbooks that I have I did not think that I would need more. Keep up how you are girl I was raised in a rural lifestyle and still enjoy a garden every year although not as big anymore and still can foods when possible. Your husband is a lucky man. Take care.
Thank you John! So good to hear from you. I am a lucky woman to have such a great man!! We spur each other on to good things I hope. It sounds like you have a lot of great memories growing up in a rural setting. I hope to pass some of these great ways of life to my kids!