Saturday, June 28, 2008
The world views singleness as a form of failure doesn't it? With shows like Sex & the City, Desperate Housewives, with cliche lines like "What would have been". But instead of questioning if singleness is a failure or not, I want to ask if couple-ness is a success.
You sacrifice 50, 60 years of your life to be together with another person, is that worth it? You buy a house and spend your lives together, a bed which you share from "I do", a car where you chose the car brand, and she chose the car make. You have a honeymoon, kids whom you watch graduate, grandchildren whom you spoil. And at the end of it all, you share one last kiss before you leave this world.
Because truth be told, both will not leave this world at the same time. You spent 50, 60 years together, to have to spend the last 10 alone. Suddenly, the house is emptier, the bed is too big, the car isn't right, the honeymoon is just a photo album, the kids have their families, and the grandchildren are experiencing teenagehood. That other half isn't there to comfort you when you needed it the most, because all that is left is a memory. A memory too good to erase, a memory too painful to recall, a memory too hard to articulate.
But like a coin there is flip side to the story, because what if you had to leave first? Could you breathe that last breath knowing what you'll be leaving behind? The pain too much to bear, makes death all that more welcoming. The yearn for heaven never stronger, where you could quickly forget this relationship, take away the last 50,60 years like it never happened. I don't want to remember.
If I could see the future,
Of one thing what would it be?
It'd be to see how this would end,
Between you and me.
Dan
8:39 am
