There has always been much to be happy about:
Laughter has been prevalent in our 57 year long marriage. I'll be the first to admit that we are known to bicker more than the average couple. And sometimes it goes beyond what is known as squabbling and silence blankets the union. Mr. Bob, as a Capricorn is incapable of sustained rage. However a Taurus is not quite so quick to get over hurt feelings and I can go on and on, in a bottomless pool of stillness. Just as our kids used to rejoice in the few times I lost my voice to laryngitis, I'm sure Mr. Bob relishes the periods of silence.
At the moment we're in one of those uncomfortable periods and wouldn't you just know it? We were selected to have our picture taken for some sort of promotional material for Southern California Presbyterian Homes. And we were to pretend we were dancing and having a whale of a good time. This took place yesterday and I'm still reeling from the experience. I've never been drawn to acting and find it most discomforting to pretend. If our current state of irk comes across in the photographs, we certainly won't persuade anyone to move to a retirement facility.
Someday, when I look back at the circumstance, it'll be funny. I have enough objectivity to know that. Right now it just feels like a failed charade.
And for the record, people of all faiths move here.........not only Presbyterians. I think that's part of the purpose of the new marketing, along with showing that many of the residents are young at heart, not doddering old folks.
"Family quarrels have a total bitterness unmatched by others. Yet it sometimes happens that they also have a kind of tang, a pleasantness beneath the unpleasantness, based on the tacit understanding that this is not for keeps; that any limb you climb out on will still be there later for you to climb back."
~Mignon McLaughlin
What a delightful hoot!
ReplyDeleteMark and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary this year. We tell people that we have been happily married for twenty-five years -- we just can't agree on which 25.
Last month, Mark slipped in our driveway and fell backwards, landing squarely on the back of his head. I spoke with him on the phone after this happened and he could hardly put a sentence together, but the one thing about which he was very clear: "I'm going to stop talking now because I am feeling out of sorts. I need to go find some sorts." And he hung up.
We got some sorts after the CT scan...
Not Quite Frank
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought you were “out of shorts” and I was going to run over there after stopping at Penny’s for a reload. But then, after rereading…………………….
Wonderful post, Jane! I think I read once that it's the couples who learn to navigate those difficult times who make it, and you two are certainly testament to that. You balance each other, you know...
ReplyDeleteThese photos are great!
Some of my best friends are Presbyterians.
ReplyDeleteAnother brilliant quote to add to my Jane collection!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Thanks for the laugh-out-loud moment. Walter and I are much the same in our personality traits as you and Mr. Bob and I only pray that we continue on our wonderful path and are able to reach our 57th as you two have. WLT is quite upset about that fact that even though we just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and he had celebrated his 25th with his first wife...no one will give him credit for at 50th wedding anniversary.
ReplyDeleteTO Joanne
Wonderful honest post!
ReplyDelete