On kitchens and marriage...

This morning as I was mopping the floor I thought about the old kitchen. It was tiny... just four squares of linoelum across, in fact. It was a ridiculously small space. Unworkable. The minute we moved into this house we said that the kitchen had to go... and it has. We just did all the other rooms first.

The concrete floor shows the outline of the old kitchen cupboards- and how tiny the floor space was

 One person felt cramped in that kitchen, but to have two people in there? It was almost impossible.You were forever reaching across each other and walking around each other to get to something and bumping into each other.

Now Jeff and I are not the sort of couple that sit around gazing into each other's eyes.... in fact, sometimes I think that throughout our marriage we have built up a sort of comedy reputation from all of our public disagreeing and bickering. We don't agree on many things!

A couple of years ago some friends came to stay for the weekend, and they brought one of their friends with them whom we did not know. We had a fun weekend, and it was great to catch up. However that weekend sticks in my mind for another reason. At some point we realised that we hadn't eaten and needed dinner quick. Jeff and I got into the kitchen and made and served dinner in about 12 minutes flat. George was watching us and although I don't remember the exact words he used, he basically said 'Wow. It's like watching ballroom dancers.' We did know exactly how and when to move to work with and around each other in that tiny space.

Any working marriage has to be a miracle of cooperation. And I was grateful that somebody saw past all of our comedy bickering and surface disagreements. Our tiny kitchen showed him - and me - that we too can be - and are - a miracle of cooperation. And I am grateful for the insight.