Sal and I are pretty good partners.  VERY good, actually.  We really seem to fill in for each other.  And I have known that for some time.  And I totally appreciate it.  I love it, in fact.  But sometimes it hits you like a fish in the face.  Last night seeing ourselves in film was just such a moment.  There is no way that our lives would have been anywhere near as rich as was being portrayed without each other.  Impossible.

The irony is that we are not anywhere near the same.  We don’t really have similar interests.  We have similar values – but not interests.  We don’t work well together.  We do things together and I love her company but she has her realm of work to do and I have mine.  God helps us overcome when they overlap.  And I have no idea how her mind works.  Freud and Jung would have no idea.  Maybe Lucille Ball would have some kind of inkling but I don’t.  And that’s a good thing.  Makes every day a surprise.  A series of surprises, to be more precise.

We have different temperaments, too. And we are both temperamental.  Plus, I have a little extra temper side.  She has a little extra ‘mental’ part.  I live in a semi-grouchy state and Sal lives in a ‘Wonderful World’ kind of state.  Sal has a nuclear strike capability but generally speaking is pretty placid and calm.  I tend towards seeing the glass half empty and what is left in the glass is flat beer.  Sal tends to see the glass full of champagne and accompanied by flowers.  And puppies.  She makes Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm look bi-polar.  So, that’s good for me – she keeps me happy so to speak and I keep her in touch with the dark, bleak and dismal.  Seems fair, don’t you think?

But here’s the weird part – lately she has begun to show ‘Dave’ tendencies while I am constantly striving for more ‘Sally’ qualities.  We are actually becoming a bit more like each other.  You should hear her on the job site!  You should hear her on politics! That woman can rant!  And, despite throwing like a girl, she can accurately throw tools and scream epithets at inanimate objects.  Sometimes we are really close to one another in that way.

And I am spending more time smelling flowers, loving hummingbirds and watching puppies frolic. Baking cookies has even crossed my mind.   It’s sick but it’s true.

We both have a long, long way to go for anyone outside of our lives to see what I am talking about.  Sal still presents like an Audrey Hepburn in the forest and I like a Shrek but we are both indelibly changed by living our lives together.  For the better, I hope.

Why the self description?  Because a friend who is into making movies (short ones) made one about us.  To accomplish this fer-sure Sundance Film Festival winner, he had to somehow capture the essence of us in five minutes.  The link is how he must see us.  I am Shrek-with-an-axe, Sal is an Amazon with grace and beauty.  And we look good together if I do say so myself. 

OK, she looks good.  I look unbelievably lucky. 

Mind you, he was careful NOT to shoot any footage of us building together.  That tells you something.  It’s like the dog NOT barking in the night (Sherlock Holmes).  Speaks volumes.

Clicking the link below did not work for me so I right-clicked it and then hit ‘open’.  It works that way for sure.  I’ll have a word with the editor…….

Leaving by Randy Cole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMXeAv2hlaM