This is so beautiful, Andrew! So evocative. Old heartbreaks! I'm an old woman now but I remember with great sadness (and great love) my first real love. Tommy. Tommy told me I wasn't the right one and left me. I was devastated. But he was right. I've been married now for 51 years to the man who is "the right one." And then one day on my 50th birthday out of the blue, Tommy called. "I made a mistake, I should have married you", he said.
I particularly love your paragraph #7 that begins "Fucking celebrate yourself, dude."
I love everything about that para as it highlights the wondrousness of each of us, the fact of our existence so profound and so exceptional that it evokes this deep love, this pouring of honey and milk and wine into every moment, every cell of ourselves. There is love everywhere, and you evoke it and offer it to your readers. Thank you. Beautifully written.
Thank you, Kathleen. What a delight to be singing this same song, this love song to/from/of creation. So appreciate you being here and I love this glimpse into your soulmate path. Tommy blew it! But then again, it's all in divine order.
Blessings to you and your garden! Tana and I just put some plants in the ground this weekend...
I read this post right after you published it and have been thinking about it a lot since! I am still "learning to sail", and have been thinking about how sometimes love can take the forms of grief and anger like you said.
I love the way you describe about the one who's learning to love as just that: someone who is LEARNING! That they are trying their best to experience this mysterious feeling and practice. It's reassuring to think that love has been experienced by every generation before us—heartbreak, forever, and everything in between. I'm still trying to be grateful for my heartbreaks like you've described.
I love this line: "And three times, I had to reef my sails and ride out the dark storm of feeling betrayed, feeling culpable, feeling anger and loneliness and that goddamned longing again." So good!!! Thank you for your vulnerability and beautiful writing.
Wonderful to hear from you, Alissa, thanks for lending your voice to this one. Learning, learning, only and always learning. Messier than most of us might admit. "Still trying to be grateful for my heartbreaks" - treasuring this line...and the heartbreaks keep coming, as life keeps happening, and I'm learning right there with you.
It IS reassuring to remember the generations who have loved before us, thanks for the reminder.
This is so beautiful, Andrew! So evocative. Old heartbreaks! I'm an old woman now but I remember with great sadness (and great love) my first real love. Tommy. Tommy told me I wasn't the right one and left me. I was devastated. But he was right. I've been married now for 51 years to the man who is "the right one." And then one day on my 50th birthday out of the blue, Tommy called. "I made a mistake, I should have married you", he said.
I particularly love your paragraph #7 that begins "Fucking celebrate yourself, dude."
I love everything about that para as it highlights the wondrousness of each of us, the fact of our existence so profound and so exceptional that it evokes this deep love, this pouring of honey and milk and wine into every moment, every cell of ourselves. There is love everywhere, and you evoke it and offer it to your readers. Thank you. Beautifully written.
Thank you, Kathleen. What a delight to be singing this same song, this love song to/from/of creation. So appreciate you being here and I love this glimpse into your soulmate path. Tommy blew it! But then again, it's all in divine order.
Blessings to you and your garden! Tana and I just put some plants in the ground this weekend...
Lucky that you’re my big brother, forging the path ahead for me! Such wisdom
Andrew,
I read this post right after you published it and have been thinking about it a lot since! I am still "learning to sail", and have been thinking about how sometimes love can take the forms of grief and anger like you said.
I love the way you describe about the one who's learning to love as just that: someone who is LEARNING! That they are trying their best to experience this mysterious feeling and practice. It's reassuring to think that love has been experienced by every generation before us—heartbreak, forever, and everything in between. I'm still trying to be grateful for my heartbreaks like you've described.
I love this line: "And three times, I had to reef my sails and ride out the dark storm of feeling betrayed, feeling culpable, feeling anger and loneliness and that goddamned longing again." So good!!! Thank you for your vulnerability and beautiful writing.
Wonderful to hear from you, Alissa, thanks for lending your voice to this one. Learning, learning, only and always learning. Messier than most of us might admit. "Still trying to be grateful for my heartbreaks" - treasuring this line...and the heartbreaks keep coming, as life keeps happening, and I'm learning right there with you.
It IS reassuring to remember the generations who have loved before us, thanks for the reminder.
Sail on, dear sailor!