From Marianne: Be Careful What You Wish For

Lately my husband has become... social. I know. I'm as surprised as you are. For the last few weeks he's been relentlessly asking me if we can make dinner plans with one of his friends. Not once. Constantly.

One day I was literally walking into a Zoom meeting with a thousand things on my mind when he blurts out: "So... are we having dinner with so-and-so on Sunday?" I finally said, "I'm walking into a meeting and I honestly don't give a... about dinner with so-and-so. Why are you so obsessed?"

Which is funny because for most of our marriage, I was the one who was obsessed.

I'm the planner. I love having friends. I love knowing we can call people at the last minute and get together. For years I explained to Bob that feeling connected to people matters to me. He never understood. His version of a perfect Saturday was hanging out with me. Mine involved at least three other couples.

But suddenly Social Bob has arrived. On Tuesday he's asking me what we're doing Saturday. He's texting friends. He's even started meeting a group of guys every Saturday morning for something they call "Coffee Talk."

Coffee Talk. Apparently they sit around drinking coffee and talking about life. Deep stuff. Who is this man? When I asked him what happened, he said, "I'm just trying to keep you on your toes so you don't get tired of me and divorce me." Okay, that's actually adorable.

I laughed. But I also realized something. Be careful what you wish for. You spend 27 years trying to change someone, and one day they actually change. Then you're the one saying "Can we just stay home this weekend?" There is no return policy here. I created Social Bob and now I have to live with him.