My husband and I have stopped referring to each other as husband and wife because those terms come with so much baggage. We are partners who choose to link our lives together. Keeping that in mind helps us not get too complacent.

Not long after we moved into our new house, we were having an argument on the back porch and I yelled at the top of my lungs, “You seem to be under the impression that I’m your fucking wife!” I was making a point about where I thought he was acting entitled, but I’m sure it went over great with the neighbors. Oh, well…… we don’t live conventional lives on a variety of fronts, but we are mostly very happy together because of that.