It’s been a week since my partner and I moved in together. In the month and a half leading up to the move, we spent a lot of time looking at apartments and neighborhoods and talking about what we needed (and wanted) in a new place. Throughout that process, we pretty seamlessly handled different tasks related to finding an apartment in New York City. Long story short, we felt like a team.
With the physical move behind us, we’ve entered a new stage of unpacking, organizing, grocery shopping, and furniture purchasing. Many of our recent conversations have, therefore, revolved around rugs, duplicate keys, and trips to the hardware store.
Last night, we were working on one of the “moving” tasks when my partner said he could handle it in full. This was a huge relief as the task at hand felt especially daunting to me.
Thank you for taking this giant thing off my plate. I said, feeling free time open up before me.
Giant thing? he replied casually, That’s the thing… I think things are different sizes for us. There are lots of giant ways you help me with things by doing things that feel simple to you. This is like that. It’s easy for me; let me take it.
After recovering from the romanticism of that delivery, I jotted down the thought. Of course he is right. And of course this is what we know makes us such a good team. We each have our strengths and we play to them well. So maybe the moral here is to help and be helped.
I’m grateful to love someone who supports me in endless complicated and simple ways every single day. It is my hope that I can always do the same.
