I’m currently sat at Belfast International Airport as I write this, following a long day of commissioning a site that processes dirty shit butter water. I won’t explain what that means, but it is as gross as it sounds.
As I travelled back from the site towards the airport, I sat on a call to Abi, filling my brain with thoughts of coming home instead of things that had gone wrong at work. She’d been at home all week looking after the house, the dog and also doing the first week of the boys at school by herself. I know that’s not a great feat in itself, thousands of people do this stuff alone, even I did at one point, but I did stop for a moment to thank her for doing it.
Having her enable me to travel for work is something I could simply take for granted, overlook, or frame as well… she has to, I won’t be there. But instead, we’d planned it, I’d liaised with work to ensure that it all came together and we’d ensured that Abi had everything she needed to make it as easy as possible, not that she needs it to be easy.
It’s so easy to take your partner for granted, even with the little things. Sometimes we just need to stop, reflect, and realise that they don’t just do things, they choose to do things. There’s a big difference.
In a previous life, I felt like I had to do things, because there really was no other choice. That really makes you feel like shit, especially when you raise it… It’s too easy to place high expectations on people. I’ve done it. We’ve all done it… But we shouldn’t.
I’ll be honest though and say that I hope she always does do these things for me, because god it makes things so much easier, but I also hope she knows that I really do appreciate it, and once I’m back home, I’ll be straight back to sharing the load. Teamwork makes the dream work and all that!
