Marriage Quarks

What is it about a marriage that suddenly makes one partner helpless in the eyes of the other when they aren't together?

Both A. and I were single long before we became a couple, and we were both able to successfully care for ourselves. In other words, A. fed himself, did his own laundry, etc., etc. long before I entered the picture and for me it was the same. However for some reason, we now both have the idea that this is something that was impossible before we met each other.

Last night, A. told me that he had to go on a little last-minute business trip today and most likely wouldn't be home for supper, so I was going to have to eat alone and probably order a pizza. Now, I don't have anything against ordering a pizza, but politely reminded him that I can fend for myself and that could mean ordering a pizza or perhaps eating a liter of ice cream for dinner... either way, I would not starve.

However, I'm not any better. When I know I won't be home for dinner I always make sure that he has leftovers to eat and that I tell him where the dishes are, which ones go in the microwave, which ones don't, and how long he should warm up said food.

Is it that we have become so dependent on each other that we have forgotten how to function alone? Or is it that we care so deeply about one another that we want to believe that without the other we can not function? I guess it is just one of those mysterious quarks of marriage...