For all of us fools who don’t know what it’s like to be in a healthy happy relationship, attorney Jennifer Gulbin takes a brief pause from celebrating 15 years of marriage to her awesome husband, Mat Peppard, and explains it, rather well, I must say.
How to Know He/She is “The One”
“Someone asked us yesterday how we made it 15 years (or something to that effect),” reports Gulbin to everyone and no one in particular on Facebook. “And I told her this story”…
Left to my own devices, I’m pretty close to a hoarder. When I met Mat, I had recently moved into a swanky apartment (compared to my previous pad at The Elks Building-301!) in Olympia. Because I didn’t want to mess it up, I had not unpacked anything except my bed.
We had bought some snacks (probably wine and cheese), and Mat said “Let’s put the rest in the fridge,” and I was like “Noooooooo!” because there was old takeout and crud in there, and I didn’t want him to see it and make fun of me.
He opened the fridge and said “Why don’t we just clean it out? It will take 5 minutes.”
I was freaking out, but we did it, and it took 5 minutes. (Okay, maybe 10.)
And that was the moment I knew this was a long-term thing.
But more importantly, that was the moment I knew that the people who are *your* people think your flaws– the things about you that make you self-conscious and that embarrass you and sap your confidence– are just… quirks.
So, here’s my advice for long-term relationships: The best people for you – romantic or otherwise- are highly impressed by what you’re good at and eternally grateful for what you do for them, and they think the things you suck at are really not that big of a deal.
In so doing, they give you room to get really good at (or at least to try) things you never would have tried before. It helps, of course, if they also like to sleep in, and if they love animals, and if they can still crack you up.
I am a much better person than I was 15 years ago. That is because I am secure.
Jennifer Gulbin divides her time between working as an attorney, taking on furniture refurbishing projects, redoing houses, hanging out with her dogs, and eating delicious food with her devoted hubby of 15 years, Mat Peppard.
Happy Anniversay, lovebirds! 🤣