Marriage

I used to be a biker and a skier.
When I introduced my wife to a long time friend, she said, “She must be a biker or a skier?”
My wife was a dancer.
Her friends were surprised to find out I wasn’t.
I’m white; she is black.
She was raised Muslim, and I was raised Christian.
When I was a young boy, I wanted to marry a skier.
A friend of mine married a biker.
They rode and raced together for years.
Then they divorced.
Didn’t they have the ideal relationship?
Another friend married a skier; they are unhappy.
My mom and dad were both skiers, they divorced.
What went wrong?
How come these expectations are so pervasive?
When my first wife and I got married, we were advised to see a pastor to determine our compatibility.
He asked us many things.
What our expectations were regarding church and children and how we would handle money.
The pastor determined we were compatible.
We divorced fifteen years later.
Do you know what I’ve never heard anyone ask?
“Do you know yourself?”