Ruby
After being married to Noel for over 60 years, it’s hard to recall some of the pet peeves that I might have had during our earlier years of marriage. Even now, most things don’t really bother me because I have just accepted him, and I know that we are getting older, and things are just different. Throughout our marriage, he has never been one to give me flowers “just because.” He has always told me if I want flowers, that I could just go buy them myself. I didn’t think that was very romantic. He would give me a beautiful bouquet on a special occasion, so I should not complain.
I like “eye contact”. He is not one to engage in eye contact well. I have to ask him if he is talking to the wall. Sometimes he talks to me while he is walking into another room. Hmmm…that is annoying!! In our older years, I have to ask him to repeat what he said. Sometimes it’s because my hearing is a problem.
In our later years, his pace of walking is slowing down. It annoys me to walk behind him because I like to move fast – even in the house. It annoys me when I’m talking to him, and he starts looking at his phone or somewhere else. Then I think that what I’m talking about isn’t interesting to him.
Noel reads a lot. Sometimes it annoys me when he sits and gets to read, and I have work to do. But then it works the other way, too – when he is working hard, and I get to do the fun stuff. I guess I’m grasping at things to find that annoy me, but all in all, there really isn’t much that annoys me.
We’ve worked together beautifully and have had a wonderful and blessed life. I’d wish all my granddaughters could have a husband like their grandpa.
Noel
This is another one of those interesting questions that is hard to answer. I notice some things about Ruby, and I accept the fact that she is who she is. So, I am not annoyed by it. I just kind of like to tease her about it once in a while.
For instance:
Sometimes before she takes a bite of food, she has to kind of play around with it before she puts a fork full in her mouth. I just dig in and eat. (Not annoying)
There are times when she says that we will probably have a certain menu for supper. When it comes to mealtime, she has changed her mind – a woman’s prerogative. I tease her that she changes her mind often. That’s fine with me. I’ll eat whatever she fixes.
When I am driving, and she sits in the copilot seat, she will once in a while tell me how to drive. My response is: Do you want to drive? That takes care of it, and I do the driving. (Not annoying)
With her hearing loss and mine not always the best, we just have to accept that is the way it is, unless the Lord restores our hearing. So, we have to accept that our communication may not always be the best, to where we think we have heard one thing, but that was not what was said.
We can create some pretty good stories. At least we get some good laughs. Such is life. Enjoy every day and live it to its fullest.