Leonor: I was working in Syracuse, N.Y., and my company was starting a Wednesday after-work ski club. I wanted to learn to ski, so I was excited to join. The first week I rushed to my apartment to change clothes and get ready to drive 30 minutes south to the resort.
Ed: I was excited that Leonor was going to learn to ski. I was kind of interested in skiing, but I was more interested in spending as much time as I could with her. I decided to drive one-plus hours to Syracuse and then another half hour to the resort, and I planned to drive back to Rochester that night. I rang her doorbell. She opened the door and was surprised to see me in ski clothes. Her eyes welled with tears of happiness. I drove back and forth for weeks to spend time with her.
Leonor: When we were dating, we’d both go to extraordinary measures to spend extra time together. After we were married awhile, life seemed to get in the way. A couple we admired suggested we make it a priority to schedule regular date nights out away from the house, phone, kids and TV.
Ed: We scheduled a sitter to come over once a week to baby-sit and promised to pay her whether we had plans or not. That motivated us to take time out and at least walk around the neighborhood together. During our dates, we don’t talk about work, kids, family or problems. Sometimes there’s some awkward silence before we get started, but then we talk about us and our dreams for our future. This reminds us of how important it is to make the effort, whether big or small, to create special time for us like we used to.
Leonor “Leo” and Ed Rivera are members of the local Worldwide Marriage Encounter community. To learn more about Worldwide Marriage Encounter, visit www.wwme.org. To read more of Leo and Ed’s blogs, visit https://catholiccourier.com/viewpoints/blogs/to-have-and-to-hold
