Sunday, January 13, 2008

In My Own Skin

Living with me, I imagine, is a little like living with a cactus. I'm a bit prickly (but really tender inside! juicy delicious!) and it helps to have a thick skin.

Living with Paul is a little like living with someone who's suffered terrible burns over most of his body. Everything hurts, infections c'mon in, and and what's left of his skin is very thin.

This is why we need therapy!

Perhaps what we need instead are regular spa treatments for me (to pluck out all those quills, of course) and, well, therapy for Paul. Heh.

Edited to add: This is not meant to imply that things are going poorly. They're not! I think it's good that we're aware of our issues. I need to remember to be gentler, more considerate with Paul. And he is increasingly able to laugh at himself when he sees that his initial reaction is out of proportion to the situation. Yay, therapy! Also, our therapist has been on medical leave for nearly 2 months and we're beginning to feel the strain a little. Humor helps.

3 comments:

ccw said...

Hugs to you both! The good thing is that both of you are willing to go to therapy.

Sarahlynn said...

Thank you! Neither of us wanted to go to therapy, so we didn't go when we really should have. Eventually, it became therapy or divorce. We didn't want to get divorced even more than we didn't want therapy, so we chose the wiser course of action. I'm very glad that we did!

Anonymous said...

Giving up is easy, but remaining devoted with a willingness for therapy, that's determination.

I hope the quills turn into soft silky strands, and those burns heal well.