Unconditional Positive Regard

"If your partner in life, child, friend or pet makes a bid for your attention, don't turn away. For this moment, they need your unconditional positive regard. This is more than one of the greatest gifts you can give; it is the key to making and keeping satisfying relationships."

I Told You So

I Told You So

A Fergus Johnson story of gender relations

You have to understand that discretion is often about what you choose to not say.

Fergus and his wife, Loraine, were on vacation in southern Arizona. It was more than a vacation, actually. They had decided that it was time to move to a warmer climate for him and a place kinder to allergies for her. So, they were also keeping their eyes open for climates and communities where they might like to live.

Fergus and Loraine enjoyed each other’s company and enjoyed exploring new places together. They noticed things and pointed them out to each other. They worked well together and they, especially, traveled well together. Sometimes, Loraine’s heart would swell with affection and she would spontaneously offer: “I love you.” More often than not, Fergus would be caught off-guard and look like a deer in headlights. Truth be told, getting that reaction might actually have been part of her motivation for saying it.

Poem: And They Shall be as One

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And They Shall be as One

Life Will Get You in the End:
Short Stories by David Satterlee

from the book: Life Will Get You in the End:
Short stories by David Satterlee

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A young man dreams of having someone to love. The kid just doesn't want to be alone, alright? 

And They Shall be as One

Behold the shadow of my mind.

It dwells in obscure mist.

I keep it veiled in deepest caves.

It’s thoughts I shall not list.

For, it is mine, alone to know —

To fathom its strange way,

And govern paths that it must tread

Alone from day to day.

But, I am not the kind of soul

That craves to walk alone.

Yet, I have walked, until this date,

A course that I bemoan.

I have the need that Adam did

To know another soul;

To find for self a compliment

And take another role —

To mesh in mind and body with

The person that you are;

To join into a lasting bond

That none can break or bar.

                         April 12, 1970