Story for the Worker

To the rest of the world I had the perfect life. I had a beautiful daughter, a happy husband, and the healing touch when it came to the scrapes my son got from running around. All my friends always asked how I did it. How did I manage to keep a beautiful home and a happy marriage? I told them all that the key was keeping my husband happy because when he was happy I was ecstatic. They never would have guessed that we were spending our Saturdays swinging with the Melvin's down the street. So how did I find myself in this particular arrangement

My husband had always told me I had a beautiful heart and that he would always protect it. He always knew how his words would touch my heart and how i could just melt at the sound of his voice. It were those weaknesses that got him to convince me that swinging was the way we could make our marriage last forever. For us, our children, and our families this marriage working out meant everything. We needed to stay together.

The Melvin's down the street had a home and marriage just as beautiful as ours. Sherry Melvin once told me that her husband Johnny's words would always touch her heart like my husbands touched mine. it was that similar situation that allowed us to maintaina friendship that could survive us sharing our spouses and beds. I loved her, she was like the sister I never had. I loved Johnny and my husband too. We were all a big happy family. We may have been a bit of an unconventional relationship, but for us it worked. In a way we all needed each other. To the outside world we just seemed like two couples that happened to be best friends and that is how we wanted to maintain that image for our children's sakes.

My perfect life came from the happiness I felt in my open marriage. The comforting feeling I got from knowing that my husband was satisfied and he still loved me. I now know how to maintain my own version of perfection.