By Trent Rosser
The other day I was lying in bed next to my wife and I realized…. I’m grounded. Yep, I realized that what I heard on our wedding day was “Will you cherish and love this woman for the rest of your life?” I swear that is what I heard so I said “I do”. Apparently what was really said was “Do you realize that sleeping in and going out to eat whenever you want to is no longer an option? Do you realize that hangings out all night with friends are now obsolete? Do you realize that you will be grounded to the house for now until the end of time?” I have replayed that image back in my mind in slow motion and I see no one trying to stop me as I say, also in slow motion, “I do.” So I started to think about the difference between being married now, and being single back then.
We all know why I was single for so long. After all, I could barely put up with myself when I was drinking, so there was no way someone else could put up with me. So for that reason, I stayed single for a very long time. Then I became sober and things really changed. I noticed that people wanted to be around me. Hell, I even joked around saying that “Women wanted me, and men wanted to be me!” I started going out more to events and meeting new people. But, I stayed single for most of that time. Now I did have a girlfriend a couple of times, but most of them were girls that were friends and nothing more. I could do what I wanted, when I wanted. I started to work nights, so on my nights off, if I wanted to go to Waffle House at 3 am, no one would, or could, stop me. If I wanted to watch movies, I could go to a theater or watch one at home. Watch whatever I wanted to watch with no repercussions whatsoever. I could stay home lying around all day or night eating snack food all day long without a care in the world and no one would say anything.
I would go to work and plan my days off on my paycheck. I would make sure that there was something that I was doing. I had plenty of friends that we would go and either eat or just cruise around town. A lot of times I went to my parents and helped out on the ranch. I would then come home and do some of my famous cooking, or I would watch a good movie. Then it happened. I ran into a girl that I met years ago when we both worked at a truck stop. Sharon worked in the deli and I worked as the assistant manager for night shift in the shop. It had been 13 years since I had seen her. I had a crush on her then, but I was too drunk half the time to do anything. What I did find out it that she had a crush on me also. So, now being who I am, I asked her out. Unluckily for her, she said yes. So we end up with an official first date at La Fiesta.
So fast forward about year, Sharon has moved in with a pregnant cat and I am staying up all night working on putting together wedding decorations. I should have been at Waffle House! Instead of going out and having fun, I was stuck in the apartment with a howling cat while putting little ribbons around little bubble bottles. She taught me how to save money by doing everything ourselves, including building the bouquet and having friends bake the wedding cake.
Time to fast forward again to 2½ years later, Waffle House is now a luxury and we are in bed way before 3am. Most nights we are in bed by 11pm. We started out going to movies all the time and eating out all time, but now it has become the same ole thing week after week. We go and get movies every now and then, but it is now a compromise. We watch what we both want. We both get a movie. But that is not what has changed. It seemed that before, I could do what I wanted, but now, I have to consider someone else now.
In all, I can no longer go out to Waffle House at 3 am without a care in the world. I can no longer just go out and spend money like I did before and have no worries. I cannot and will not just go to a friend’s place after work. Now I have to consider that someone else is at my house waiting for me to get home. Sharon has been by my side since the day that we got together a few years ago. There is nothing that she does not know about me. Trust me, I tell her how great I am all the time. Every time we walk into United Supermarket I remind her of the time I helped stopped the robbery there. All of my actions revolve around her. Everything I do is because I try to make her as happy as I can, with what little we have. So I am grounded. I cannot and will not do anything without her knowing. She has learned of my deepest and darkest secrets. She does not complain when I destroy things, (like the bathroom after one of my spicy meals). She has backed me on the decisions that I have made, even when they were stupid ones. She actually puts me in my place when I need it, and deserve it. So she has grounded me. She makes sure that I am grounded with both feet on the ground. I could be out, causing trouble, going out to eat all the time, and flirting with all the girls, but I cannot. I am grounded and I love it.
I can only hope that everyone else can be as grounded and happy as I am.
