Chocolate vs. Mashed Potatoes- My Thoughts on Marriage

Lately I have spent a great deal of time thinking about relationships, most notably marriage and being the sugar addicted, carb loving foodie that I am, have defined the marriage relationship in terms that are near and dear to my heart.  Chocolate and mashed potatoes. (Insert happy sigh of contentment here).

Most marriages generally begin with hearts, bunnies and rainbows.  New love is bright and shiny, like gold in the sunlight.  Promises of undying love and passion are made, and the future is a rose petal strewn journey with the love of your life.  Your love burns as pure and fierce, and you vow that the bond between you will never be broken because you have found your soul mate.  It is like chocolate.  It's happiness... sweet, strong, wonderful and intensely satisfying, but not particularly sustaining or nourishing for the long haul.  

Time passes, and the love and passion that burned so bright and fierce is a more subdued glow.  The new and shiny has worn off and is now a burnished patina. You know your love so well, you can finish each other's sentences (... in the top drawer of the dresser) and predict which entree your sweet hubbie will order in the restaurant. (The one with habenero peppers or curry.)  The little quirks that you once found so endearing, now are irritating. (Does he really have to check his hair EVERY time he gets in the car?)  But you are linked together through shared memories, experiences and children and your lives are intertwined to the point where its hard to tell where you end and he begins.  You are no longer Rick and Lisa, you are The Riddles.  And when hard times come...and they do, sometimes all that keeps the bond from fraying is the commitment you made to God and to each other so long ago in the presence of family and friends.  But you beat the odds and survive and grow and thrive. The relationship is comfortable but deep and rich.  Just like mashed potatoes. With butter. Lots of butter.  It is contentment... not as exciting or intense, but is sustaining and nourishing to the soul.

Getting married is hard and staying married is even harder, but as much as I love chocolate, I will take mashed potatoes any day... for the next 20 or 30 years.