She looked at the neat row of folded clothes on the bed and felt an odd sense of satisfaction. But then, she saw something that caught her attention. She grabbed a shirt and studied it closely. That’s when the truth hit her like a speeding truck. Now she knew why her husband came home late all the time. So, she reached for her phone and called.
Jonna Miller and her husband, David, lived in Leesburg, Indiana. They hadn’t been married very long, but everything was going great, so far. But then, David started coming home later than usual. Jonna could tell her husband had changed, and this worried her. With each passing day, her insecurities grew. Was it possible that he wasn’t happy with his family anymore? Then, out of the blue, she found the answers she desperately needed.
David and Jonna began dating in 2012. They got engaged a year later during Thanksgiving dinner. In less than no time, the Millers had plenty more to celebrate. Jonna was also 6 months pregnant with a baby girl. In 2014, Jonna gave birth to Delanie. The following year, the couple decided to officially get hitched, but Jonna had no idea that married life was going to be this complicated.
Jonna was raised in Indiana. She often joked that she spent a lot of time “telling bad jokes and creating awkward situations.” But her unique sense of humor prepared her for what she would end up doing later in life – using her sarcastic voice for her blog, Real Blunt Blonde. Thousands of her readers tuned in to see what she would say next. One day, she decided to talk about her husband, and what she’d learned about him, which left her followers speechless.
David’s childhood was quite different from Jonna’s light-hearted life. He was raised in an Amish community, where distrust of technology and simple living was the staple of this Swiss-German religious order. Jonna is often amused by her husband’s idiosyncrasies. She even dedicated a whole section to him called “You can take a man out of the Amish but…” Jonna claimed that David was “well-adjusted to his new ‘English’ lifestyle.”
David worked grueling hours at an RV dealership, so he often didn’t make it home until it was very late in the evening. On the other hand, Jonna was a stay-at-home mom, who somehow found the time to keep her online followers satiated. But on her blog, she claimed that her husband’s absence made her insecure and isolated.
In 2015, Jonna decided to vent her frustrations on her blog after a rather difficult day. “I’m married to a hard-working man and I would be lying if I said that it didn’t take a toll on me. Sometimes he will come home after a long day at work and I’ll be waiting for him to walk in the door, so I can yell ‘you promised me you would be home at five!’ As if he would rather be working than spending time with me and our daughter.”
“I’m putting him in a lose-lose situation. He literally can’t win. If he doesn’t work late, we won’t get the new furniture set that I have to have. If he does work later, he comes home to a nagging wife who is desperate for his attention.” She explained, “I am so selfish in our marriage and I know that. But, every once in a while, I’ll have my little ‘A-ha’ moment that gives me a sense of understanding.” But then, life gave Jonna a reality check.
David didn’t come home by the time he promised on one typical Wednesday. So, Jonna put his dinner in the fridge and shut the door angrily. She was so upset, and she promised herself she would give him a piece of her mind. Then the dryer finished its cycle, and she folded the clothes away. She found it soothing. But she kept wondering, “Why does he not want to spend time with me?” Then, she saw something on David’s clothes that nearly made her heart stop.
She folded and separated the clothes into two separate piles. One belonged to her. The other pile belonged to David. That’s when she saw it and wondered how she missed it. David’s secret had been right in front of her. She looked at both piles and realized his clothes were completely different from hers. And the shocking revelation changed the perspective of her whole marriage.
Jonna decided to share her life-altering revelation on her blog. She also asked herself: “Why did my clothes look so vibrant, clean and new? His were dingy, stained and torn.” Then it dawned on Jonna. David worked extremely hard to make sure that he could give his family everything they needed. He also had to work horrible hours in order to keep her happy.
“This man provided more than I deserve. If I tell him I want something, very seldom will he tell me no,” she shared. Then, another emotional tidal wave hit Jonna. Her husband was using old, worn-out clothes every day, while her clothes were new and expensive. She suddenly found herself feeling so guilty, that she began to ball her eyes out.
“I get spoiled with the fruits of his labor, and he is okay with a pair of torn boxer briefs. I was acting as if he was out partying with his friends, but his laundry told a completely different story.” But the thing that made her sad was the fact that David never showed any resentment towards her. He never complained either. “His heart is full when he walks in [through] the door and our daughter runs for him excitedly yelling, ‘Dada!’”
After Jonna’s epiphany, she promised herself that she would try to be a more equal partner to David. From now on, she would no longer get angry when he came home late from work. And if she started to feel anger, she would remember that he was making sacrifices for his loved ones. So, she encouraged her followers to think first before accusing their husbands of doing something wrong.
“Sure, I miss him and want to spend time with him throughout the week, but I have realized he is offering me the most beautiful form of love there is… He works to give our family everything we need. He works so his wife and daughter don’t go without, even though there are times I’m sure he does,” she shared.
Jonna’s random observation allowed her to admit that her resentment towards her husband and her feelings of loneliness were baseless. She also offered more great advice to her readers. “If you have a hard-working man in your life and you can’t comprehend how much he loves you… Do his laundry.”
Jonna’s blog post resonated with a lot of her readers, and many could relate. But one follower was strongly affected by her. “This is an amazing reminder. I used to stay home with our daughters when they were little, and I used to feel horrible doing the same thing. This is an awesome perspective to carry.”
Being a parent keeps Jonna very busy, but she still finds the time to write on her blog whenever possible. Real Blunt Blonde has tons of witty and hilarious posts about her family. A lot of Jonna’s posts also talk about David’s Amish roots in length, and these have been very popular with her followers as everyone’s interest in the culture continues to pique.
“I’m not Amish but my husband is” is one of many blog posts that Jonna writes about. In it, she talks about what happened the first time she met David’s parents. It also clarifies a lot of misconceptions that she too had about the Amish people. And unlike some bloggers, Jonna actually enjoys poking fun at her naivety using her wicked sense of humor.
Jonna also shares her experience on being a mom and writes some of the things that she’s experienced while parenting Delanie. In 2016, Jonna had to deal with her daughter’s rebellious attitude during what most parents call the “terrible twos.” Jonna titled this blog post “I Graduated at the University of Toddler Town and Majored in Defeat.” She also describes this time in painstaking and insanely funny detail.