Getting Better – 29 Years of Marriage and Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw was my Traveling Buddy on this latest trip on the Highway of My Life
Driving back and forth to mom’s house is about a four-hour drive, and knowing all the country radio stations from the west end of Toronto to Brockville is as much a part of that road trip as food and water.
Each trip offers up what I call ‘the king of all songs’ with lyrics so powerful that it places the Country Artist in the passenger seat next to me. Two trips in a row, it’s been Tim McGraw; the last trip was ‘Mr. Tim‘ perched next to me blasting out ‘My Next Thirty Years’ and this trip it was ‘Better Than I Used to Be.’
Better Than I Used to Be – I Ain’t No Angel – A Country Song About Getting Better
Nearly half an hour after walking in the house, I said to my husband, “I found your current life theme song,” of course, I secured ‘a funny look and a cute smirk’ (no surprise there)…but he knew I was going to play the song for him…there was no escape! But I knew he was brave enough to see himself in the song, and I was right, he was.
Better Than I Used to Be is about a man who’s working on becoming a better person, not for everyone else around him, but for himself….**put some faith in me and someday you’ll see there’s a diamond under all this dust…I’m cleaning up my act little by little. I ain’t no Angel; I still got a few more dances with the devil…I’m cleanin’ up my act little by little..I can finally stand the man in the mirror I see all the same I ain’t as good as I’m gonna get…but I’m better than I used to be – lyrics**
Forgiveness is an Art, and we’ve Both Painted Masterpieces
The first line in the song doesn’t apply to my husband (had to let the world know that one!) – It begins with ‘I know how to hold a grudge’ …my guy never holds a grudge and forgives as quickly as I do. We’re a team in that department. But he knows if someone asks me, ‘has it been easy being married to him’ that the answer is no. It hasn’t. However, through all of our trials and his own failings, for reasons that run deep, I’m overall a happy person and consider my husband a friend. We’re good friends, and like typical friends, we can get on each other’s nerves on occasion, but most of the time, we’re buds.
My husband and I have been together for 33 years, and we’ll be celebrating our 29th Wedding Anniversary this coming Sunday. Through it all, through the mountain of reasons that came up in this long marriage to pack it in, we stayed. I have to say, I’m not good at quitting anything anyway. I suck at quitting. Maybe that’s an ancestral family trait. I think it has a lot to do with keeping a family together as well, while still holding strong in knowing ourselves. Who the hell knows. Of course, our children mean more to us than they can understand; we deeply love all of them; our four sons and my three stepchildren.
So What’s the Secret to Staying Together for Over 30 years?
Although I did pen words about my thoughts on the Secret to Life, I want to say I have the answer to that…but it’s complicated. People stay together for different reasons, just as they split apart for various reasons. There is no secret. For us, working it out is the only option. Each of us has to evaluate ourselves and our lives and come to a decision that works for us. There is no right or wrong in this department; whether it’s right or wrong to stay or to leave is something that’s strictly personal. Forgiving ourselves for our failings is the hardest thing to do in this life. So I say, judge no-one, not even those who hurt us because everyone’s journey is their life lesson. I like to think that when we work on our selves, everything comes together….‘I ain’t as good as I’m gonna get, but I’m better than I used to be.’
**By the way, my hubby approves of this message – I read it to him..and we’re still married – Update: 2020, still married lol**
Find More about Tim McGraw on Facebook, Twitter, and his Website.
This blog post has been Digiproved © 2014-2017 Barbara (Tremblay) Cipak
Tags: Growth Country Songs, Tim McGraw
I have lost track of Tim McGraw’s latest music being over in the UK, but I have seen him in concert 3 times. The first time was in South Bend, Indiana, when Don’t Take The Girl was in the charts, but I already liked him from listening to Indian Outlaw. Then I saw him twice at Strait Fest in Chicago with Faith Hill. Brilliant. One of my favorite country artists.
Tony, he’s an incredible performer isn’t he. I’ve seen in live once in Toronto, and he put on one of the best shows I’ve ever seen! The radio stations were still talking about how good it was the next day. And, wow is he ever in shape to do a show like that. A friend of mine knew someone in the crew and we managed to get a seat right up on stage for a 10 minutes or so.