Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived all alone with her mother and father. Her mother was a crazy woman who espoused the same enthusiasm in her glory as she did in her depths of hell. Her father could not relate and the subsequent outcome was her mother's suicide. The result of the suicide left a father with a daughter that reminded him of his mad, dead wife. He decided that pawning his daughter off on his mother so that he could find a new wife and create a new family was the best option...for him. The little girl was treated terribly by the step monster and was eventually shipped off to never, never land.
It would take this little girl a very long time to reconcile the fact that her mother could leave her with a man whom she could not stand to be around to the extent that taking her own life was her only option. It took her even longer to reconcile the whole step family dichotomy that had shaken her to the core.
At some point in her life, she came to realize the difference between good and bad people and to tap into her intuition to understand how to differentiate and accept those who would love her, propel her, heal her.
Even as a woman, she found herself to be the mature shell of the child she had always been, and inside, she was scared to get hurt and afraid to let people in. But she did take that chance and let people in. One of those people she wanted to be within her, she learned to love without expectation. She loved him because it felt good to love him and she knew to the very core of her soul that this was a love that he needed, even more than she did. This was her epiphany.
Once upon a time there was a little boy who lived with a mother and a father and a brother. It was sort of a blended family, and that blending seemed to leave the little boy uncomfortable, as if he could not really find his place in his world. He was a sensitive little boy who loved with his heart and soul on his sleeve and he was ostracized for this.
It would take this little boy a very long time to reconcile the fact that his mother would perpetually compare him to his brother in the most negative ways and would seem to never understand his depth of emotion. Perhaps, in fact, he might never conquer the reconciliation that had shaken him to his core.
At some point in his life, he found himself to be the mature shell of the child he had always been, and inside, he was scared to get hurt and afraid to let people in. But he did take that chance and let (very few) people in. Again, however, most of them let him down, as again, he was misunderstood. One of those people he let in did, however understand his demons and was drawn to the sensitivity she understood was his true nature, and when he came to realize that the love she felt for him was all because of her knowing who he really is, he, too had an epiphany.
This little girl and this little boy knew that they were the same and that what they could learn from each other and share with each other would heal them and that one day there really could be a happily ever after.
There is an old Italian saying that goes something like this, "No beautiful rose ever grows from tainted seeds and untended soil."
The seeds of our friendship are pure and honest. Our soil is blessed with love and understanding. The roses that bloom from this contribution are the rewards we give to each other.
We are each others' person and the knowledge of this is the comfort we seek in other ways. The ways which destroy us.
This comfort, however, is good, not destructive, and the practice of this is what perpetuates the most beautiful roses of all...

-DeAnna Lynn Arzola