My Plan B

I have my second husband picked out.

No, I'm not done with my first (and hopefully only); I just want to be ready.

The man I've chosen doesn't know that I have wee crush on him. We've only met twice. I truly hope he never finds out my plan because even typing it right now, it sounds a little creepy. Here it is: if my husband passes away and I find out that the man I'm eyeing has become a widower, I'm definitely going to make a move. Number two, as I call him, seems like a pretty good mate: friendly, funny, good looking, sporty and seems like a good dad. I'm sure he's a good husband, too.

I ran the tragic plan past my current husband to get his approval, but for another reason, too, and here's where a funny little story becomes a lesson in how to stay married: I told my husband that I had a teensy crush on another man as a way of diffusing the power of the crush. Put another way, I revealed myself to my partner to turn what might otherwise be a harmful secret into something to bring us closer together, through laughter.

It worked brilliantly: if this guy's name ever comes up, instead of me blushing about my secret feelings, my sweetie and I get to share a joke.

I think if more people would share their silly feelings before those feelings become serious, and if more spouses would respond with kindhearted laughter and understanding, we might just see fewer broken hearts and maybe fewer broken marriages.