Home > Marriage > Snapshot
Marriage Partnership, Fall 1999
Finding Humor in Odd
Places
'We've been through so much, we know we can get through
anything.'
Jeff Allen is a stand-up
comic who gets a lot of professional mileage out of his marriage. He recently
released a video called "Happy Wife, Happy LIfe" (Myrrh). Tammy, Jeff's
wife, is an at-home mom to their sons, Aaron (15) and Ryan (12).
We first met: at a club
where Tammy was a waitress and I was doing comedy. I followed her around
like a puppy. She was so beautiful.
I was attracted to Jeff
because: of his sense of humor, of course. He was hilarious.
Our hardest times: started
right away. When we got married, Tammy already had Aaron, and Ryan was born
that first year. I went from traveling 49 weeks a year to being married with
two kids. I was an alcoholic, but since I mostly drank while I was away,
Tammy didn't know.
Things fell apart: because
I was never home, even when I was in the house. But on the way to divorce
court, Tammy said we'd already invested nine years of struggle and that
she still loved me.
Things took a turn for the
better: one Fourth of July, when Jeff was crying and saying he needed
help. I took him to Alcoholics Anonymous. Right away he started praying.
It was pretty natural when he became a Christian several years later.
We laugh the hardest over:
the struggles of life. Someone once said that comedy equals tragedy plus
time. We've seen that in our marriage.
What I love most about Tammy
is: her heart, her strength. She's seen all my demons, and she
never left me.
What I love most about Jeff
is: his compassion. He really puts himself in other people's
shoes.
Our marriage works because:
we've been through so much, we know we can get through anything. Recently,
when Tammy was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was concerned that I
wouldn't be there for her emotionally. I reassured her that I'll
always be there.
The best marriage advice we ever
received is: "acceptance is the answer to all my problems." If I
don't accept the people and things around me, I'm telling God what
his plans should be. After months of griping about my wife in AA meetings,
a lady came up to me and said, "Maybe it's time you stopped pointing
the finger at your wife and started looking at yourself." I didn't like
hearing it, but that was great advice.
Interviewed by Annette LaPlaca
Copyright © 1999 by the author or Christianity Today International/Marriage
Partnership magazine. Click here
for reprint information on Marriage Partnership.
Fall 1999, Vol. 16, No. 3, Page 80
Marriage Partnership
Home | Archives | Contact Us
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Try an Issue of Today's Christian Woman Free!
|
 |
|
No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders.
If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless.
Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift
Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
