We were just kids when we fell in love.

(Taken from my phone notes, I wrote this after two hours of relaxing prenatal massage courtesy of the husband. I may or may not have been under the influence of euphoria when this was written. LOL)


After almost 10 years of marriage, you can be rest assured that it will never be the same kind of romance when you first started as young kids in love.

It's no longer the kind of romance Ronan Keating sings about in If Tomorrow Never Comes. No longer the butterfly you feel in your tummy on the night of your aqad. You will no longer feel the same excitement and giddiness of your first halal outing together. It’s definitely not the kind rom-coms tell you about. That’s for newbies, dating couples, the newlyweds.

It is different, and much more than that. When you’ve been married for that long, a different kind of romance takes over. It’s accepting each other’s flaws and quirkiness; the freedom to be yourself without fear that your partner will abandon you for your annoying habits. It's letting your spouse has his/her own special time for him/herself. It's the occasional splurge because he/she deserves it after all his/her hard work at work/home. It's choosing to spend your free time with your spouse because you actually enjoy his/her company. It’s being with each other in sickness, unconditionally. The simple everyday surprises; coming home from work earlier than usual, simple text asking about your day, bringing home your favourite food. It's in the everydayness of life; sharing of chores, raising healthy and happy kids together, listening to each others' woes and petty tales, watching your favourite shows together for 10 minutes before you both start snoring because let’s face it, everyday life is tiresome.

It’s surviving and enjoying life together, one day at a time, hand in hand -- some days stumbling and quarrelling and pissing each other off -- but mostly hand in hand; savoring the repetitiveness of everyday life, being there for each other and finding delight in occasional surprises. That too, is romance.