November has started so Rachel and I have been living together for more than 3 months. October had a couple of significant events so I learned a lot about Rachel, our relationship and about myself. Here are a few of the things I took out of October:
- It can end at any moment so enjoy all of it. Rachel’s flat tire on the Gardiner Expressway served as a wake-up call for us to get rid of any complacency that had developed in the relationship.
- The English language is a robust and often entertaining way to communicate. There are subtle regional differences that make for some funny conversations. I had never heard the term “pig house” before I moved in with Rachel and when she said that she didn’t want to live in one, I laughed as loud as I could because of the mental picture it creates. She didn’t find it nearly as funny as I did when I asked her if she called a barn a cow house.
- We both sleep better when we go to bed at the same time. Rachel was staying up later because she had midterms in the middle of October and I had to leave for work earlier, so I was going to bed a few hours before her. During these nights we never really got in sync and comfortable with each other being in the same bed.
- Most of the time our role is not to solve problems, it is to listen to problems. Most of us know the solution, we just need to talk our way to it.