Distance makes the heart grow fonder - or does it?

Many have heard the old adage that distance makes the heart grow fonder, and for some people, this may be true, but for others, distance only serves to create a chasm between two people. My husband and I work well as a team, but I've noticed over the summer that we have gradually been going our separate ways - our interests taking us in different directions. I want to teach English and finally return to graduate school to get my Master of Arts degree. He loves life on the open road, driving a big rig, and hoping that I will eventually join him as a partner. While I love to travel, the life of a trucker is not for me. My tastes and interests are more refined, while his are more base and raw. During the few occasions when he's home, I've been embarrassed by him in public due to his inappropriate behavior, which has become more telling since he's become a truck driver. When I'm taking care of the house and errands, he's doing maintenance on the computer. The activities I would like to do together don't interest him and vice versa. In conversation, his thoughts are largely on trucking, while I crave more intellectual discussion involving subjects of which he knows little to nothing about, rendering him incapable of participating.


The most worrying aspect of these thoughts is that we recently made our marriage official. We've been together 4 years and functioned as a husband and wife the whole time, but only now have made it legal. And the only impetus for finally marrying was so he could put me on his health insurance. I wonder about how long our marriage will last if we continue going in separate directions. I'm sure many words have been left unsaid by both of us, neither one wanting to acknowledge that anything's wrong and afraid to rock the boat. I know he's lonely on the road, yet loves his career at the same time, but what he needs, I'm not able to provide from home. I know that he's already had one close call with infidelity, but whether he's told me the whole story is hard to tell.


Although I do care for him and we work well together, I often wonder if marriage was the right thing to do. When all is quiet in the house and I've only my thoughts to occupy me, doubt fills me inside. His family is thrilled that we finally made the committment, but they are unaware of the strain that our relationship must overcome.