Revealing a Little
In a Personal Essay

Writing a personal essay is not so hard. Allowing it to be read is another issue altogether. If it relates to other individuals, courtesy and privacy must be considered. After those bridges are crossed, let your inhibitions go and share your tale.

We are a couple 40 years, a work in progress. You’d think by now we’d be finished, like our wedding china, finally complete. We’ve been through a lot. Yes, through: in one side and out the other.

Rarely have we experienced anything peripherally. It has been down and dirty or high and mighty. We have gone through hell and through high water and through thick and thin and even through The School of Hard Knocks, whose motto is, you guessed it, “You learn through experience.”

Imagine entering The Forest Primeval, which scared the be-jesus out of everyone in Camelot, with its snakey vines to catch in your hair, tangled roots to trip your running feet and foggy damp which took your breath away while it clouded your sense of direction. We’ve been through that.

Visualize twin rainbows, Technicolor harbingers on a flawless blue horizon, whose arches, hand in hand, we’ve walked through, smiling at each other and at the golden pot revealed at our feet. We’ve been through that, too.

We have had battles that we’ve not fought fair, that we’ve seen through to the end with a negotiated truce.

We’ve walked three parents through the Valley of the Shadow of Death and ourselves survived the loss of vastly different familiars.

We’ve trudged through one ugly day at a time, never speaking through squalls and squabbles. We’ve laughed through sunny weeks as waves washed through our sandy toes and our shoulders bumped suggestively.

We’ve looked at each other suspiciously through anger-reddened lenses and contritely through tear-burdened lashes. We’ve listened to each other through secret, interior distractions and through noisy public attractions.

We’ve knelt in mahogany pews, praying through pain, “Oh God, deliver me.” We’ve followed others down a twelve step path, praying through hope, “God, grant me the serenity…”

We’ve wanted to plunge a god-damned knife through the other’s stubborn heart and we’ve wanted to hold each other so tight that we come through the other side.

We’ve looked through each other as if we weren’t there. We’ve gone through with promises only because we were.

We’ve let weekends of time run through our fingers foolishly. We’ve watched the minute hand of sick-bed midnights trudge night-tarred through eternity.

We’ve traveled through traffic and through time-zones to be together. We’ve lied through our teeth to be alone.

We are a work in progress. We are a couple. Through and through and through.

Read Mo's Personal Essay Here

Return to Home Page