My husband’s boss wanted him on a project across the country for two weeks, ten hours a day, plus the airplane travel to and from the location. He didn’t think he could turn down the assignment. My husband is 66, I’m 64, and we just celebrated 45 years of marriage. I heard you give on-air advice to people in this situation, so I took a deep breath and said “IF you take this assignment, you’ll need to find someplace to stay for 14 days after you return home, and you will have to have a COVID test before you can come back in the house.
This really got his attention, as I generally do not make ultimatums. He looked up the mortality rates and was shocked to see that he was ninety times more likely to die of COVID-19 than the baseline group of young adults. I walked away while he made the call. He turned the assignment down and said his boss was most understanding. I told him how proud I was of him and I knew this wasn’t easy to turn down. I then gave him a BIG kiss!
The secret of our happy 45 years is that we don’t sweat the small stuff, but don’t ignore the big stuff. This was big stuff. Thank you for helping me find the right words and tone to take. My husband is the head of the house, and I’m the neck. The neck turns the head. I don’t want to be a pain in the neck, so I use the power sparingly, and I needed it in this case.
Kathryn
You Helped Me Save My Husband’s Life