Relationships

Some friends of ours recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. My husband and I were asked by their granddaughter-in-law to take pictures of the celebration. We were more than happy to do so. One of the highlights of the day was the cutting of the “wedding cake”. This couple had eloped and not had a “wedding”. Thus, there had been no “wedding cake.” For their anniversary, a beautiful, three layer cake was decorated with gold bows and a big “50” on the top. We did the usual “bride and groom cut the cake and feed each other”. I would venture to say it may have been more civilized than a newly married couple. These two people knew the ramifications of . . . whatever might have passed between them.

This week, my husband and I have been in Venice, Florida. We went to the well known Venice Rookery. It is a small bird rookery in the middle of civilization. We had a really good time taking pictures of Great Blue Herons, White Egrets, and Anhingas, just to name a few of the birds we saw.

As I watched some of the Great Blue Herons, I thought about relationships. So, here are three pictures about relationships. I think in all relationships, whether marital or friendship or even familial, there are several important methods of communication used. First of all (see the first picture), there is talking, where one is talking and the other is listening. Then, to make this relationship work well, you both have times when you are going in the same direction, i.e., have the same goals or outlook in mind (second picture). However, there are also those times when you need to be alone, to think for yourself, not to be together but to be “apart” (the third image).

My prayer is that you have someone to enjoy life with. Maybe it is family (spouse, brother, sister, etc.) or a friend (the true friend that understands these times as explained), both are important and each can understand us well enough to share life.