1355 YESTERDAY

Yesterday marks the anniversary of the day when
Twenty-three year old Will carried his twenty-two year old bride
Over the threshold of married life, where

Two beginner adults would spend the first twenty-five years of
Their union unaware of all they each had need to learn about
Their own and each other's fears until both felt inspired to muster
The courage and patience to gain the knowledge that proved
Necessary to free their psyches of secrets, so painful as to
Have been buried behind defensive walls during childhood, and
As long as neither had a conscious clue of need to identify
Secrets, locked away from self awareness, neither could
Make astute use of intelligence to tap into intuitive
Trains of thought, which shine bright spotlights of insight
On deeper truths, highlighting the haunting nature of each one's
Subconscious fears until they'd worked with a 'coach', versed
In EMDR therapy, at which time their eyes opened to
The primary reasons why undercurrents of combustible tension
Festering painfully ever since childhood, had created
A great divide, splitting two people, who
Loved each other, into separate camps until—thankfully
Over time, Will and I both felt reason to learn how to dismantle
Our own defensive walls, which, layering up within
Every person's mind, blind conscious awareness from
Recognizing certain vulnerabilities until personal experiences
Which had catalyzed the development of divisive defensiveness
Had been identified, understood and disassembled, freeing

The inherent intelligence of both minds to aknowledge and disempower
Subconscious fears of unworthiness (which continued to
Discombobulate Will's sense of inner peace and mine until
Our distorted views of our self image had been reconstructed to
Match reality), at which time we'd both felt so free of yesteryear's
Unhealed pain as to have set emotional reactiveness aside so
Naturally that, as defensive walls fell away, both minds opened to
Discussing unmet needs calmly, rationally and thus, attentively
(Some of which prove universal in nature, while others prove

Unique to Will or to me, because people, like snowflakes, are not
Born to become clones of one another.  I mean, how bored
Would you be, awakening, every day, to see a carbon copy of
Yourself, staring back?). Thankfully, Will and I chose to quest
Ever more deeply into self awareness, so rather than
Blindly sweeping another twenty-five years worth of combustible
Emotional reactivity under the rug, we worked to recreate
A lasting sense of friendship, and thus did a man and woman, whose
Relationship had grown to feel painfully discordant to
Both, achieve harmony by opening both minds to learning how
To Make beautiful music, together as each chose to spend
These last twenty-five years identifying and honoring
Unmet needs—some of which we share ... some not ... and
Resultant of both spirits, inspiring each other to tune into a
Life long quest to deepen our understanding of one another and
Ourselves, our grown sons continue to absorb the fact that
Both of their primary role models have freely chosen to work toward
Resolving depths of emotional confusion so mindfully as to have
Mustered the patience and positive focus to identify
Subconscious fears, which, left to fester in the dark side of the mind
Would have bred a brittle sense of bitterness or divorce (which
Breeds bitterness, as well), and knowing that Will and i
Made good use of our smarts to outsmart defensive reactiveness
I'm delighted to reflect back over the resulting sweetness of our
Courageous quest to follow Socrates's sage advice, which
In addition to offering every person in our family
Reason to bask in the heartfelt celebration of
Our 50th anniversary, has offered my spirit many reasons to
Smile but most especially because I've come to embrace this
Fact of life:  All brains do not think alike, suggesting
My having made peace with this reality:
The intuitive voice, which resides between my ears will continue to
Feel greater need to 'know myself' in depth than will be true of
Will, who'd rather debate sports' facts over identifying subconscious
Mindsets, any day of the week (No surprise about that!). And once
I'd truly embraced this deeper truth, which proves profound, concerning
My need to discern the main difference between Will's think tank and
Mine, my understanding of 'some things change while others do not' and
'Live and let live' has been enhanced by this next train of thought, which
Brightens my spirit as my mind's eye envisions the next quarter century of
Our treasured friendship continuing to unfold, one day at a time:
Our love for each other has learned to understand, dismantle and set
Layers of defensiveness aside in favor of holding hands with
Depths of mutual respect, concerning differences that
Make Will uniquely Will and me uniquely me ... And that thought
Makes me repeat: Who wants to awaken next to a clone of oneself, indeed?
As to our plan to party with immediate family, last night—well
Will has been fighting a nasty upper respiratory infection, over
These past few days, and since he'd felt washed out (and
As none of us has forgotten his hospitalization and
Lengthy recovery from pneumonia, several years back)
We wisely chose to put the kabbash on dining out ... However
Since his antibiotic had kicked in, suggesting contagion had passed
Will felt re-couped enough to enjoy dinner with
Celina, Steven, Ravi and yours truly in our kitchen, which
Celina had thoughtfully adorned with festive flowers and
Colorful balloons; and since it's the little things that count
My train of thought, concerning our family's chosen path toward
Embracing a healthy sense of mindful interconnectedness, energized
My spirit's surging sense of light hearted well-being, which
Shone forth so brightly from deep within my soul as to have
Dimmed anything that might have otherwise run interference with
Deeper truth, concerning our good fortune, and with that
Objective train of thought buoying my spirit, nothing could
Dampen our fiftieth (impossible) anniversary!
As to planning a full fledged, high flying celebration ...
Our 'kids' say that's in the works ...