Marriage

I drove home yesterday thinking about marriage and things people at work had to say yesterday. Jeff and I have been married for almost a year and a half already. That means we've been together everyday for almost two and a half years. I really do feel like it just keeps getting better... debt, job loss, and all. We've had a few pretty big fights. I've wondered, and I'm pretty sure he has too, if this is even gonna work or if we did the right thing. I know we've both said things that hurt each other. But over all, I love being married. I love going home and having him there. I love that he calls me during the day, sometimes just to tell me about the game he's playing. I love that when he was working grave yards he wanted me to call him as soon as I woke up; I even love that he sometimes couldn't wait to talk to me and would call me earlier than I wanted to wake up. I love being home with him and just going to the movie rental store. I love his smile and the way he holds me. He really is my best friend and, even though I felt like we were friends before lovers, I feel like the best friend thing has grown over time.
I can't imagine ever feeling, as in a general sense of being and not just having a bad day, that marriage is negative or that we generally annoy each other or that I could stand with people and actually make jokes about this and tell a newly wed to just wait, it'll get worse. Perhaps that's my naiviety? Maybe it's because I haven't reached that 3, 5 or 7 year mark?
But I was thinking as I drove home yesterday and it seems like the people who make the jokes and say negative things don't have that friendship thing. They have friends and they have a husband and sometimes they all socialize, but the spouse seems to be... like a separate thing. It kind of makes me think of friends in high school when the boyfriend just played a particular role. Did some people just never get past that? You know how some girls say they'd never let a guy come between them and their gal pals? Maybe it's not nice of me, but I never bought that. I thought "but when you find the right guy, the guy you're going to build your life with, he's got to come before the silly girlfriends and girl's night etc."
Jeff's the one I want to talk to about things. He's the one I want advice from, even when it's advice about "our relationship." I feel like if I can't talk to him about it, I probably shouldn't be talking about it. Not that I don't want and need other people's perspective sometimes or even to just blow off steam. But...
I guess I'm just saying I feel very connected to this person and the more time goes on, the more connected I feel. It's like I've given myself completely to this person and I feel totally comfortable with him only to wake up the next day and feel like I have more to give and share and things are even more comfortable and close. And if that's the way it's going, how can it ever turn into something you joke about at the office?
This gives me hope. I hope it's the friendship we have, the closeness we share, that will continue to grow and keep us strong and happy.