WOW! Where do I start? She's been my buddy, my BEST FRIEND — for more time than either of us can remember. Our families were friends way back in the 70s. We fell out of contact for several years, then reconnected in the early 90s totally by accident and coincidence. She helped me through some rough times I was having then, and I helped her through some that SHE was having. We slowly developed a friendship, with the usual misunderstandings and miscommunications ... and we learned HOW TO COMMUNICATE! This is something that some couples (which we didn't consider ourselves as, back then) never learn. We still have some misunderstandings, but now we know to ask questions — to make sure we DO understand, before it develops into a quarrel.
In some instances, we've learned that no matter how long we discuss a given subject (and there aren't very many of them any more) we will still disagree on it. So we drop those subjects with an agreement to just "disagree on that" & let it go. We've both learned that we won't always persuade the other to agree with our point of view — that we won't always win an argument, no matter how important it is to us. Some of the people I know have NEVER learned this.
We've learned to appreciate each other for who we are, what makes us each unique. We've learned to look past the foibles, quirks and eccentricities we each have. We can see the inner beauty and strength as well as the weaknesses (not to mention the sheer BEAUTY she has) and appreciate the WHOLE person.
At any rate, here she is, my buddy, my BEST FRIEND (and soon to be my WIFE — yep, there's even a ring!) — GINA.
Created: February 15, 2007
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