Lauren Akins opens up about marriage counseling with husband Thomas Rhett
In her new book, "Live in Love: Growing Together Through Life's Changes," Lauren Akins offers an all-encompassing look at her life with husband Thomas Rhett, including the struggles they've overcome in their eight-year marriage.
One of those struggles came after the birth of daughter Ada James in August 2017, three months after adopting 2-year-old daughter Willa Gray from Uganda.
Akins reveals that she felt distant from her musician husband following Ada's birth.
"It's so hard to explain, but I started feeling like I just missed him. I felt estranged from my husband. Even when he was in the same room with us," Akins explains in the book.
The couple got a true wake-up call when Akins and her husband each received a delivery. His delivery was a pair of Gucci shoes and a tuxedo, while her package contained Lysol wipes. She said it further made her feel as if family was something her husband "did on the side," with his career his top priority. She at one point even stated, "I think I hate you."
The two eventually worked through their struggles via marriage counseling, where they learned to communicate effectively with one another. And when Akins returned home one day to find Thomas already there and having done the dishes, she knew they had reached a turning point.
"It wasn't just about doing dishes. It was about wanting to share my life with an equal partner -- the man I loved -- and not allowing some old-fashioned stereotypical view of how marriage is supposed to work get in the way of making our marriage actually work," she wrote. "For both of us."
Akins continues on her virtual "Live in Love" book tour through the end of August.
