Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/112126
horizon Eyes on the Horizon Kate Whitson, a contracts administrator, and husband Randy, know ���rsthand how insecurity, ���nancial trouble and cancer can shake a marriage���s foundation. But Kate says they���ve found you need more than love���including hard work and a smattering of luck���to keep your relationship soaring When Randy walked into my orientation at Cessna Aircraft in Wichita, Kan., I knew I was in trouble. We both agree it wasn���t love at ���rst sight. It was something more tangible, more electric, and nothing either of us had ever experienced. Randy was not only my boss, but also my ���ying instructor. He challenged me every day, while also supporting my dreams. ���The lesson we both learned is that no matter how happy you are, marriage is work. Every day. If it���s easy, you don���t care enough and you���re not being true to yourself.��� When we decided to leave our cubicles and bene���ts at Cessna in 2004, our friends thought we were crazy. We agreed that moving to Madison to work in commercial real estate, and be closer to my family, would give us the ���exibility we needed to continue ���ying, even if we had to suffer through the cold. We agreed to live there for a minimum of ���ve years and see what happened. But then, a year into our marriage, something broke. We were disconnected and ���ghting to the point of not talking to each other for days. Besides being ���nancially strapped due to the recession, insecurity and paranoia clouded everything I 42 BRAVA Magazine March 2013 did, and my trust in Randy wavered. I knew Randy didn���t think counseling was the answer, but he proved his love by agreeing to try when I asked. After three sessions, he was a believer. It was hard work, but counseling gave us the tools to build a stronger foundation. The lesson we both learned is that no matter how happy you are, marriage is work. Every day. If it���s easy, you don���t care enough and you���re not being true to yourself. When we hit the ���ve-year mark in Madison, we stuck to our plan, packed up the U-Haul and moved to an island off the coast of Florida. We had our health; a beautiful 2-year-old son, Max; and we knew if we didn���t do it, we���d always have regrets. Besides, what was the worst that could happen? About two years later, that question was answered. Randy was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The need for a bone marrow transplant pushed us back to Madison to be near family and UW Hospital and Clinics. We spent our 10th wedding anniversary at that hospital as Randy recovered from the transplant. He says I���ve been his rock, but I���m just making sure he does everything he can to get better so he is here for our son and for our family. If we hadn���t built that foundation, I don���t think we���d feel as positive���or as lucky���as we do today. We call it our layover. We���re just stuck in a crappy airport, and our ���ight back to a normal life will be leaving soon.