(un)tie

Divorce. Separation. Dissolution.

Marriages are ending all around me. People who seem reasonable, kind, and lovely are finding that they cannot live with the person they promised to love forever. I don’t know the details. It is not my business. Even if one party had told me everything, there would still be more pages of explanation unturned. My sympathy goes out to them, maybe even some empathy. To feel ripped apart by conflicting and coexisting emotions is how I understand hell.

frustration combating peace
longing coexisting with repulsion
laughter while sobbing
intimacy paired with distrust

There are two couples in my life that are model denizens of the connubial community. They give me hope when happiness for a man and woman seems impossible. Their marriages are not perfect but I see a flexibility in their bond. Patience abounds. When tiny threads are severed they retie their knots forming:

Cohesion. Accord. Unity.

For this I am grateful.