By: John Silva – August 2022
A Husband announces to his wife that he has invited a friend over to dinner. Tonight? His wife says… are you crazy? You know I haven’t cooked since I gave birth to our third set of twins, the house is a pigsty, the kids are trying to kill each other, I’m sweaty, and I need a bath, not to mention the toilet doesn’t work. What were you thinking?
Her husband answers. My best friend is thinking about getting married, and I want him to see what he is getting into. It will give him something to look forward to.
If you are looking for romance, you won’t find it here. This story is about “true” love and what it takes to make a relationship work for over forty-plus years… or how to keep a blended family with five unruly and defiant teenagers, two adults, and a disabled parent all living together and struggling to make it work.
I’m talking the real deal here… with all of its joys and heartbreaks. The following is a partial list of situations that call for “true” love, with lots of angst and blood, sweat, and tears.
- Several times a day, you change your aging partner’s diapers, which makes you gag and retch. You do it because it has to be done.
- Due to dementia, your loved one doesn’t know who you are. And, when you can no longer care for them, you visit them every day at the memory center. You make them laugh at your antics, ask them about their childhood, give them hugs, and let them feel your love in spite of your anguish and pain.
- You and your partner have a violent argument, and words are said that hurt and can’t be easily forgiven. But, somehow you put it all back together… because it’s the right thing to do.
- Your partner is cheating on you. So you grit your teeth and try counseling because, in spite of everything that has happened, you are both willing to take another chance.
- Due to a horrific car accident, your partner is now a paraplegic and blind. Or he has contracted ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and his leg has to be amputated.
- Your fifteen-year-old son is about to become a father, and your faith prohibits abortion. Or, your sixteen-year-old daughter is pregnant, and the child’s father has abandoned her. You step up and choose to embrace their situation without malice.
- Your child joins a gang, and their initiation requires them to kill someone. You circle the wagons and get help!
- Your family has disowned you because of something you did that they didn’t agree with, and there seems little chance of reconciliation.
- Your child is hooked on drugs and their life, and yours have been savaged, and repeated rehabilitation efforts have decimated your finances. Can you recover? It’s time for tough love, a clear head and some tough decisions.
- Your wife of twenty-six years files for divorce and you don’t know why.
AND, SO IT GOES. TRUE LOVE ISN’T ALWAYS HUGS AND KISSES, AND SOMETIMES LIFE JUST ISN’T FAIR.