Just because we're married, doesn't mean we both like zombies

My wife and I have been married for 25 years (and all of them to each other). That is a quarter of a century together, and more than half my life.
After that many years you do develop many traits that are similar, but there are also long-standing differences I suspect will be there even after 50 years.
For example, I like zombie movies. My wife hates them. She would rather take her mom grocery shopping than watch a zombie flick.
I also like pretty much any post-apocalyptic movie with or with out zombies. She sort of likes them and will occasionally sit through one, depending on who is in it and it is zombie free.
The Missus is more of a fan of those sappy, so-sugary-I-need-a-shot-of-insulin movies where everyone is in love and they ride off into the sunset together with smiles on their faces as they bask in the glow of their eternal happiness. Yeesh.
Perhaps that last one is universal for women because they all seem to love The Notebook and Beaches, both of which rate extremely high on the chick-flick-o-meter. Although Beaches does not have a happy ending in the traditional sense (yes, I have watched it), it oozes sap like a wounded maple tree.
Seeing as how I am not a member of the female fraternity of frilly flicks and she is not a card-carrying member of the macho manly movie club, our taste in entertainment varies greatly.
When we first started dating, it was not that big of a problem.
We were both brimming with new love and willing to sit through any form of cinematic torture just to be with each other. I would manage to get through a girl movie without falling asleep, barfing or going into a sugar-coma one week and she would cringe her way through a man movie the next.
But after two and a half decades together, we now debate what movie to see and if a consensus cannot be reached, we likely will just stay at home and go another day.
Over the past 25 years we have spent a lot of time together, so squeezing in a couple hours more at a movie really is not that big of a deal.
In our younger years, I would even go shopping with her and pretend to be enjoying myself as she tried on 345 pairs of shoes without finding the exact ones she was looking for.
“You don't like any of them? Well that is OK Sweetheart, we will just spend another four hours in the mall while you try on every single pair at the next store. I love standing around waiting for you to find the perfect pair of foot wear.”
Nowadays, when my wife says she is going to the mall to look for shoes my response is a little different.
“OK, see ya.”
“But don't you want to come with me? We can spend the afternoon together. It will be fun.”
"Sorry, but there is something else I have to get done today.”
“What?”
“I don't know yet, but I will think of something. I am sure it is very important and must be tended to the exact time you are looking for shoes. Sorry, my hands are tied.”
She will then head off to look for new foot attire while putt around the homestead looking for anything that is more exciting than watching my wife try on shoes – like scooping dog droppings from the backyard, or performing home dentistry with a drill and hammer.
I love my wife more now than I ever have, but with age comes wisdom and with wisdom comes understanding that we do not have to like all the same things and it is OK to do things apart once in a while.