The Evolution Of Passion

*Previously published on Club Mom by Edwina Caito


I fondly remember the night I met my husband and how, when his arm brushed mine, everyinch of my skin responded with an electric tingle. When we slow danced and it seemed like Iwas melting into him. My raging body wanted to take over my mind. I wanted to throw caution to the wind, rip off his clothes and do unmentionable things to him, right there.

After we started dating, I was on cloud nine every time we were together and I yearned for him every moment we were apart. Kissing was amazing! We could kiss and kiss and kiss for hours on end, each one getting more fiery and passionate than the last. I felt alive in his presence, sexy and insatiable in his arms.

What the heck happened to those people?

You see, I was given a stark reminder of just how much our steamy, passionate and erotic love affair has fizzled during 10 years of marriage. My neighbor and good friend has started dating someone special. He's a terrific guy who takes her nice places, does nice things for her and constantly compliments her. Oh, and did I mention that they regularly blow the roof off ofher house with the passionate sex I used to have?

She has this musical giddiness in her voice whenever she speaks of him. She gets all dolled up before they go out, making sure her hair looks perfect and her butt looks amazing in her new jeans. She looks forward to every brush of his arm, every kiss and every opportunity to rip off his clothes and do unmentionable things to him. I started thinking about how much I miss that. How much I miss dressing perfectly, doing my hair, cramming into tight jeans and..........wait a minute!

While my friend is dining by candle light and wondering if dinner will give her gas, my husband and I are cramming kettle corn into our faces, swigging cola and passing gas freely (well, my husband is). While my friend ponders whether her new love interest will spend the night with her, I am yet again snuggling against my husband's warm chest with a pillow over my head to drown out the snoring.

While my friend works to plan the perfect meal to make an impression on her Prince Charming, I am passing off pizza rolls and salad as top notch cuisine. While my friend frantically searches the far reaches of her closet for the perfect outfit, I realize that I had better sew up the fourth hold in my blue sweat pants or throw them out . While my friend is dashing out the door for another evening on the town, I'm dashing in from my daughter's dance class or was that my son's bowling practice?

While my friend is waiting for a sign of commitment, for her new beau to give her a signal that their relationship is progressing, my husband and I kiss again and say, "I love you." We will kiss our kids goodnight and fall into an exhausted pile on the sofa and watch anything but cartoons. We won't worry where our relationship is going because we have already been there and done that.

As much as I miss those special tingles and the breathless anticipation, I think I'll take the comfort of being me in all my holey -sweat- pant, kettle-corn-eating, pizza- roll- baking glory!My husband and I may not be exciting every moment we are together, but we have the passion and the tingle when we're not too exhausted to muster it up. And yes, we can still blow the roof off of the house from time to time. I love my husband and he loves me. I think I'll take it!