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| A Peacock Inspects the Kilns at Laguna Gloria |
Our good friends P & T are due here in a few hours, and it got me to thinkin' about some very wise words I once heard, though for the life of me, I cannot remember who said them. I believe we were discussing guys we knew who needed more closet space, and took longer to dress, than their wives, which of course, reminded me of Mr. T.
As with us, Mr. T took a job overseas when he and Miss P were only engaged. She came to Bahrain a few months later and they were married there. We were still in Indonesia at the time, and hadn't met them yet, but Miss P told me later that all of T's new friends kept coming up to her after the wedding, telling her how shocked, but relieved, they were to find that he was marrying a nice, quiet kindergarten teacher. They just couldn't imagine having two Mr. T's in one relationship! Which is exactly what that wise friend told me, when we were talking about closet space. She said "You can't have two peacocks in one marriage. There must be a peacock, and a peahen.
When I started thinking about most of the people we knew, that really made sense. In almost every couple, there was one of each: one who needed to be center stage, directly under the spotlight, and one who preferred to stand in the wings supporting them, basking in their reflected glow. On the other hand, when I thought of the couples that didn't have this balance -- the ones where neither person would utter a word in public, or the ones who were forever elbowing each other out of the way, and trying to talk over one another, I finally understood why those relationships had failed, or if they hadn't, why they were so uncomfortable to be around.
We didn't have that balance at first, and spent a lot of time sitting in the corner together at parties, just watching. However, John was determined to claim that as his territory, and kept shoving me out towards the center of the room until finally I found my voice...and my plumes!
So which are you? Peacock, or peahen?
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1 comment:
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Jodi Snook Sanford: Maybe it can also work when you can take turns being the peacock and peahen. Its a delicate balance that would have to be worked at, but if its worth it, maybe its possible. I like this story :)
Yesterday at 11:39am · LikeUnlike
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Becky Thomas Lane: Thanks Jodi. Yes, sometimes you just have to learn to take turns -- like when you have a pea-chick who grows up to be a born storyteller, just like his pea-dad, or when you're from a great big family full of peacocks!
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