So… I Married a Rockstar (Literally)
Explaining what my husband does for a living is often tiresome. He isn’t a Cognitive Astrophysics Data Input Tech Specialist at NASA (not a real job, although he’d be great at it), but a talented, touring, real-life guitar hero. He’s in the band The Bigger Lights, and when he’s not on the road playing shows across the country, I see him four months a year on average.
Chris and I met in the fall of 2003 at college when he was my then-crush’s-best-friend-slash-band-mate. He knew me as that sorority girl. Long story short: we were friends, we were a couple, and then we were married.
He has continuously been in a band since the tender age of 15, so the musician lifestyle is something I’ve grown accustomed to, though it hasn’t been (and still isn’t) easy.
Aside from dealing with the distance, fielding questions from people who don’t understand how we make our relationship work while he’s on the road can be taxing. People say so often, “Honey, I don’t know how you do it,” that I’m starting to wonder the same thing.
Steve Jobs has certainly had his turtle-necked hand in helping ease any communication woes while we’re apart, and we thank him for that. (All you long-distance relationship girls know what I’m talking about, right?)
When Chris is home, we encounter the “normal” marital topics of household chores, thermostat adjustments, how much Madden he plays vs. how many episodes of Ghost Hunters I watch, etc., but our biggest challenge has been tackling our expenses.
Along with booze and drugs (he does neither), a misconception about most bands is that they have the income to support that lifestyle.
Unless you’re Beyoncé, Jon Bon Jovi, or Nickelback, you aren’t exactly raking in the dollar bills. We aren’t destitute by any means, but we aren’t exactly flossy-flossy, either. Blame Fergie for the false advertising because this life isn’t exactly G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S.
Even though some of these issues can be magnified when Chris is away, I remind myself that he has been given the rare opportunity to live out a dream that so many others strive to reach, and that is something I wouldn’t trade for money. Unless it was a million dollars.
Anyone else out there in a long distance relationship? How do you manage to keep it fun and exciting?
Emily McPeters is a 26-year-old apartment dweller in New Orleans, working in insurance with a degree in Art Education. Fitting. She will accept or purchase anything that bears the shape of an owl or butterfly and is currently working on her Persian cat collection — she is already the mother of two.
Photo Credit: Emily McPeters
