By: John Silva – August 2022
A Husband announces to his wife that he has invited a friend to dinner. 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 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.
No romance here! This is about “true” love and what it takes to make a relationship work for forty years… or keeping a blended family with five unruly and defiant teenagers, two adults and a disabled parent all struggling to keep it together. I’m talking the real deal here… with all of its joys and heartbreaks. Following is a partial list of possible situations that call for “true” love and lots of 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 both are willing to take a second chance.
- Your partner has become a paraplegic, is now blind, contracted arterial lateral sclerosis, or requires that a leg 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. Their life and yours have been savaged, and repeated rehabilitation efforts have decimated your finances, and you may not be able to 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… SOMETIMES, IT IS REALLY, REALLY, HARD!