Sarah finished work and started home. She hadn’t heard from Jesse all day and wasn’t sure where he was. She knew that they needed to talk, but wasn’t sure when that would be.

She was happily surprised when she arrived home to find Jesse sitting on the front porch waiting for her to arrive. She parked the car and went to him immediately. They hugged, tears in Sarah’s eyes.

Sarah and Jesse went into the house and sat down to talk. Sarah started the conversation by asking, “What is going on? Talk to me.”

Jesse looked down at the table. “I’m sorry”, he said. “I have been so stressed about being laid off, I should not have yelled like that.”

“You know we will be okay. I will help.”

Jesse looked down at the table again, and with some prompting from Sarah, shared things that had been on his mind.

He talked about the last time he was laid off by his employer, and the conflict that it caused. He talked about how long he was laid off, and how after he went back to work his marriage went downhill, including his divorce.

He had never really shared the details of his divorce with Sarah, but he knew it was time. He talked about paying the bills earlier in the day, applying for jobs, and apologized again for leaving earlier.

Sarah thanked him for sharing how he was feeling, and the details around his divorce. She didn’t know that the end of his marriage started with getting laid off.

Sarah knew that Jesse’s ex didn’t feel that she should have to work, but she didn’t realize how much it affected their relationship.

Sarah and Jesse talked more about a plan until Jesse could get back to work, or find another job, whichever came first. They worked on a budget that would allow them to keep the bills up to date, and how to limit spending in other areas to save the money in the savings account.

They talked about how they would have to talk with the kids, all three, about how money would be tight until Jesse was back to work.

Jesse assured Sarah that he would continue to apply for jobs and that he hoped to be working again soon. Sarah reassured him that they would work together, but they needed to talk about things. Jesse agreed and apologized again, promising to do better next time.

By the time the kids got home, Sarah and Jesse had a plan. The rest of the evening was easy, and Jesse felt better.

After another week, Jesse was called back to work. This time he was only off for about three weeks, and although he was glad to be back to work, he wasn’t sure this was what he wanted long-term.

Jesse and Sarah talked about the future, and Jesse wanted to keep looking for another, more stable job. He knew it would take a while, but being back to work with income made it easier. His current job bought time to keep looking for something else.

Jesse and Sarah learned a lot from that day. They learned to talk about things, instead of hiding how they were feeling. They learned that together they could manage things, and they learned that they had a future, together.

There are two different sides to every argument, and there are two different sides that need to be shared to understand any conflict. Sarah and Jesse used communication to manage what could have swelled into a bigger marital issue.

So many couples struggle with communication issues. Don’t let communication issues, affect your relationship or your future. It makes being happy for life, much more difficult.