'BUT wait...maybe that jocular approach is itself manipulation - by making the request not look like manipulation, or exposing or admitting to the manipulation means denying it is really there'

Oh yes pelican! That's what I'm talkin' about!

This may probably make some people cringe - but I am grateful for the miracle of my marriage: that we managed to find each other, that we get to begin our days together, share our lives together, respect each other, support each other, and let the other be. To discover the joy of living with a lover and a friend. Sometimes coming home at the end of a day, I worry that as in a dream it will all have disappeared. We should take nothing for granted.

As I've written in the past - the Aztecs were terrified each night when the sun set that it wouldn't rise again the next morning. They were grateful for each dawn.

It takes a long time to become a person. Longer than they tell you. Longer than I thought. I'm grateful for my past, it has given me the present. I want to do well by the future.

more attracted to left-wing males than right-wing females.
squeers,
there aren't many right wing females, they're women through & through. It's your prerogative but please don't try & turn this forum into a dating site for the Greens.

A few more thoughts ...

Find a girl who will appreciate your tenderness as well as your strength, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep...wait for the girl who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you're in your sweats, who holds your hand in front of her friends, who thinks you're just as perfect unshaven and scruffy. One who turns to her friends and says, "that's him!"

Some girls come into your lives and quickly go. Some stay awhile and leave footprints on your heart. And you know you'll never, ever be the same. That's the girl to keep.

Lexi,
you were right in your second-last post, it had me cringing. But I forgave you.
Your last post is downright harrowing!

I've known girls like that and believe me, it's not what men want!

Sorry to pop your balloon but we're not that deep--or should I say that shallow?

Dear Squeers,

I fully understand your feelings. I hesitated before posting my thoughts for that very reason. I think many of us are looking for someone who satisfies our emotional appetite for that long-term relationship. You've got to connect. Anyway, we're all different - and for me at least life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take my breaths away - and thankfully there have been quite a few, all thanks to my partner.

PS: I've learned that whenever I've decided something with an open heart, I've usually made the right decision.