The Second Act of Marriage
My wife and I were watching the movie “Grown Ups” this weekend. In the movie they were talking about relationships and marriage when this pearl of wisdom came out: “In life, the first act is always exciting but it is the second act – that’s where the depth comes in.”
Immediately my wife chimed in, “That’s US babe, we’re in the second act.”
I countered, “I don’t want to be in the second act. Why can’t we still be in the first act?”
I wasn’t really joking. Sure, we met twenty years ago this month. We’ve been together ever since, now married thirteen years, with two kids and a dog and a pretty happy life. But the second act? How did it happen all of a sudden that we went from young couple just starting our lives together… to married couple… on our way to old married couple. I’m not ready for the second act yet. We still haven’t opened some of our wedding gifts.
The big question I have is how can we keep the first act going for longer. Can we?
In the first act we went on getaways at a moment’s notice- New York City, Savannah Georgia, Washington DC. In the first act we had money to splurge on fancy holiday gifts and concerts and Broadway shows for each other. In the first act we didn’t have to worry about kids if we wanted to get amorous in the middle of the afternoon on a weekend in the middle of the living room or somewhere else for that matter. The first act was exciting and fun and unpredictable.
In the second act we plan each getaway. Carefully. Our money, like many working families, is spoken for when it comes to bills and expenses for the kids and a mortgage. In the second act, with our working schedules, we’ve pretty much identified Sunday night, around 10PM, after The Good Wife, as a good time to find some alone time together. The second act is a carefully choreographed family maneuver of many moving pieces just to make sure we don’t leave a child somewhere on any given day.
Hold up. Intermission.
The second act for us is also two wonderful kids. The second act is one daughter who thought enough to sew a doll for her sister.
The second act is watching the joy my wife gets being around her two girls… or the pride I get when they grab my hand to hold it just one more time.
The second act is teaching them to ride bikes, watching them play with their toys, seeing them grow out of each little outfit.
The second act is my wife excelling at an inner city charter school where she helps these kids get into college.
The second act is me excelling in my journalism career and now having four Emmys — even if the kids use them to hold their My Little Ponies.
Okay so maybe the second act really IS the “depth” as my wife and I start to see the life we’ve built with each other.
I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions but this year I have one- to try and keep some elements of the first act as we forge ahead in the second act.
This past weekend I surprised my wife with tickets to Evita. It was the first show we had been to in forever. Maybe if I put my mind to it we can recapture the spark. Maybe just maybe, the second act can be just as good… if not better… than the first.
Pete Wilgoren is an Emmy award winning journalist who writes about his often surprising, embarrassing, and educational experiences surrounded by a wife and two little girls. Find Dadmissions on Facebook and on his blog Dadmissions.
