Being both a pack rat and sentimentalist is a BAD combination. While going through my boxes of correspondence last week, it occurred to me that maybe I don’t need to hold on to every...single...wedding, baby shower, birthday and holiday card received over the past 15 years. I bravely tossed about 85% of the contents. Among the saved were dozens of sentimental cards elaborately written and faithfully given to me by DH each year on my birthday, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. While sifting through, I also came across some old, long-forgotten printouts of emails from DH dating back to the … [Read more...]
Marriage: A State of the Union Address
A wise girlfriend and I had an interesting talk over lunch the other day, musing over the state of marital affairs in contemporary American society, and even within our own circle of friends. We were sorry to reflect on the increasing number of marriages that have fallen, or are falling, apart in our midst, but empathetic because we understand just how difficult marriage can be/is (none exempted). If you're married and have lived in this world long enough, without blind eyes or a snooty, judging heart, to experience or at least learn from others' experiences, there should be no room, desire … [Read more...]
The Mating Dance: Call-and-Response
I'm glad I'm not a man - at least in that I'd hate to be the one expected to do the initiating if interested in someone romantically. After all, it takes some skill to strategize, and cojones to execute, the very vulnerable task of approaching a stranger to whom you're attracted, making a good first impression, and hoping she finds your advances (and tactics?) charming and effective. (Granted, I'm talking in the limited context of the traditional "men initiate and women respond" paradigm, which isn't so different from this astounding mating dance/ritual found in the animal world.) So ladies, … [Read more...]