Perfect relationship?

On our wedding night we went out for a lovely, romantic dinner. We were seated at a table between two other couples, at one table were an older couple holding hands and talking softly to each other and at the other table were a younger couple talking loudly and a little bit too aggressively I thought.

Further into our meal the older couple made a comment about our dinner and we started chatting. Barbera and Sandy had been married 52 years and were thrilled that we had just tied the knot. Sandy still had his original wedding ring and Barbera was referring us to Cartier. They were so sweet and said there was no secret to long lasting love and marriage. They would have sat and chatted with us all night but thought they should leave us to our marital feast.

At the other table and much further into the food and wine drinking the other couple were engaging in very passionate and aggressive conversation. I noticed that she wore a wedding ring and he didn't, my first thought was 'affair?' so I was surprised to hear when they asked us if we had any cigarettes that they had actually been married for 20 years. They were from Dublin and at first refused to believe we had just that afternoon been married. It took some convincing but once satisfied by the evidence we produced they congratulated us and tried to order champagne but the bar was 'closed' or maybe they had been cut off from the booze supply. They applauded our decision to have a civil ceremony with minimal witnesses and were more thrilled when we told them were the best places to drink and dance were.

After they left we looked at each other and thought 'wow!' Here we were placed between two married couples who were opposite ends of the personality scale. We could have been sat anywhere in that whole restaurant but fate or coincidence had put us at that table. What were we to learn from this experience? There is no perfect relationship, you have to go it at your own speed and do it your way and it really made me think about what is is that makes our relationship work so well. It was a truly humbling experience and one that makes me feel alive and so happy and blessed that I have found such an amazing person to spend my life with.