Last week, I mentioned this trip is special in a number of ways.
One of those is the occasion. Our 35th anniversary was actually in early June. Like any couple who has made it to a milestone anniversary, we have had our ups and downs. Today's story is about the most difficult of those times, and why we're still here over a decade later.
Without going into a lot of detail, the biggest down periods in our marriage have been due to my actions. I come from a background of addiction and have struggled with several addictions through my life. It was one of those addictions that very nearly split us up. Twice.
I've been working in recovery for about 11.5 years at this point. Our 25th anniversary almost didn't happen — the one where we discovered we love cruising. It came a year into recovery, after we had both done some of the most intense work on ourselves and the relationship that we've ever done. We got to that point because of Roxan's pushing me to heal myself and her not giving up.
I had another bout of unhealthy activity not long after our last northeast US cruise. In the three years since then I've doubled down on recovery work and really dealt with the childhood damage behind my addiction. Doing that work enabled me to repair my relationship with my mom in the year before she died.
That's not to say I'm healed...addiction doesn't work that way. I'll be walking this road for the rest of my life...and one of the sayings is "no matter how far down the road you get, you're the same distance from the ditch."
So yes, this trip is special. It commemorates not only longevity, but Roxan's willingness to fight for the marriage the first go-round and our intense work in the first half of 2024 while we were separated.