Nurturing

I turned 76 on February 20, 2017. For the past few years I've been thinking -- or maybe reminiscing is a better term -- of my earlier life. I mean from childhood through my twenties. In retrospect, life has been pretty good since I met my wife Margaret and we married in 1971. Prior to that, my life was a jumble of experiences and disappointments, These disappointments were primarily associated with female relationships. If I had to identify why this was so, I think it was primarily because my mother died when I was four and there was no constant adult female in my life to provide the love and nurturing that a mother provides. I based this pretty much on the loving relationship my wife Margaret provides to our three children. She provides discipline when necessary but she also provides a listening and discerning ear when needed. I didn't have that! My understanding of love was based on what was portrayed on the large and small screen. I guess the biggest and most misunderstood conception in my life was the meaning of love and how loving relationships develop and grow.