Everyone has heard and read
about my Best Friend, Luke, but I have not written much about the man that has
been by my side for the last 15 years. The man that stepped back and allowed me
to focus on taking care of our friend for months. Luke told me that he knew I
would be okay after he was gone because of this man. This man who knows me
better some days than I know myself. The man that has been there every day for
the past 15 years and my support during the loss of Luke.
This man knows how to keep me sane and also
drives me insane. He has always been there when I felt the world was totally
against me. He knows when to comfort and when to let me rant. He is the calm when I am the storm and always
knows just which buttons to push. The man I trust with my life, my mental
stability and I know I would be totally lost without, my partner in life,
Paul.
Paul and I came into this
relationship knowing we both came with baggage, both strong willed and
definitely set in our ways. I mean after all we were not in our twenties and it
was not our first rodeo when it came to being in long term relationships. Paul
was married for 22 years and I was in a 17 year partnership.
Paul has two children, so
that was a big adjustment for me. I mean it is difficult enough to start a new
relationship and learn each other’s little idiosyncrasies. Then you throw in
having a teenager on the weekends. Oh My God! Yet we both learned how to deal
with this added pressure and grew together as we did.
We came from totally
different back grounds and extremely different lives yet it has been one of the
most fulfilling experiences for me and I hope for Paul as well. I can't speak
for him although he would argue otherwise but that is what makes our
friendship/relationship work.
We are totally opposites in
so many areas of our lives yet that is also what makes us a good fit. We don't
try to hold each other back or feel guilty doing what we enjoy. We support each
other even if we don't understand the draw the activity or subject has on the
other.
What we have most in common
is our commitment to family and friends. I think it was one of the things that
drew us together; we both had a strong connection with our families and had a
group of lifelong friends.
It has not always been easy
for Paul to live with a crazy hillbilly who is stubborn as a bulldog and as
protective as a grizzly. I am the first to admit I am not an easy person to
live with or to deal with 24/7. Yet he
has persevered, even after retiring from the Post Office, moving away from
Florida after 39 years, leaving all his friends and being totally together with
me a true 24/7 for the past 2.5 years; he is still my rock and my biggest
supporter. He is my cheerleader, my counselor, my friend...
I have been told recently
that as a couple we bring life, energy and comfort to those in our life and
those we encounter. I think that is the best compliment I have ever received
and says a lot about how well we complement each other as partners.
I would not be where I currently
am in my life without this amazing man. He completes me in ways I never
realized that I needed to be completed. Paul, I am blessed to have you in my
life and look forward to the what the future holds for us,
Keep dancin' Larry B
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