The Speaking.

     Homer Simpson once said, "The problem in the world today is communication. Too much communication." I have a feeling the world would be better off if we did the opposite of anything Homer says. He's like the Cartman of prime time television. There is too much for me to get into here, communication is an extremely complex topic and other people much smarter than me have written far about it than I could ever put in a post. But I will say this: Catie and I's relationship didn't really get started until we had a car fight.
     I don't know if you've ever had a car fight, but they are things of wonder. We were coming back from our one year anniversary that, for several reasons I'm not getting into, and Catie was (rightfully) upset. The issue was, when she got upset she'd shut down, stop talking, just give me nothing. I then did something that was probably unadvised; I laid down an ultimatum. I declared this relationship wouldn't and couldn't work if she wasn't willing to talk to me about issues. I was lucky enough to have a strong woman who was willing to try something new. I was also lucky enough to have a mother who told me I was being dumb. It wasn't right for me to force my (potentially) future wife to argue in a specific way. That's right, to a certain extent, because each person solves their problems in a different way. But that's not my point.
     My point is that Catie and I actually talked about how we were going to fight. That's communication about communication, or meta-communication if you want to get fancy about it. Guys, it's one of the cornerstones of relationships and we've been silent too long. Also, this is why signing up is so important: because if both of you are truly committed, then a fight isn't going to ruin your relationship. It's okay. Just make sure you love each other after the fight. Make sure you speak up, because if you don't, you won't have anything to say after it's over.