Houston we have liftoff…

Steam of consciousness, sometimes disjointed alert…

I am finally on a plane ready for some much needed PTO (which we all know means pretend time off) because, of course, I have work to do next week. But it will not kill the fun in my visit with my friends and to revel in being back in Texas.

Yes, I have been homesick for awhile. There is no other place like Texas.

But I didn’t really want to write about Texas, what I really wanted to write about was companionship. I can only speak for myself but some of my comments seem to be universal.

Companionship sets you free. Isn’t that a bizarre contradictory statement. The very act of entering a relationship would seem to mean some type of bond which I looked and webster’s does not include in the definition of free.

So in my Diet Dr. Pepper riddled brain, here is the logic.

I have a good man. Honestly, the kind that calls his mother on weekends, loves kids and pets, doesn’t get angry easily and lives each day with integrity. I am not even sure I could think of something I “wish” he did that he doesn’t. He hugs and kisses me when I get close and mostly, he lets me, be me.

Some of you know what that means, others, whatever you imagine is probably not crazy enough.

I told him I was headed to Texas to see friends. Not once, did he question, dampen my enthusiasm or otherwise make me feel badly for wanting to catch up and have girl time. I could have said I was headed to Hong Kong and he would have asked if I needed him to get my passport updated. What he would not have done is doubt me or give me a hard time about being away from him.

Brad Pitt looks will fade but the guy who lets your mom move in when she needs a place to land is definitely a keeper.

Many of you have also found this type guy and are living the dream. 😉

I guess I am writing this for those that aren’t.

It isn’t supposed to be hard. It isn’t necessarily easy either, but it isn’t supposed to be something that sucks your soul. Your relationships should always feed you.

As a country song I heard once sings, you’ll only miss the man that you wanted him to be, so shut up and drive (away).

I told my daughter the other day, if you are dating someone and he doesn’t make you stronger than he isn’t the right one. I think Dr. Laura calls it “Stupid Attachment”, one of the 10 Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives.

We should be better with someone than alone. Some can’t fathom being alone, but sometimes it is just a rest stop where you recover and prepare to continue the journey.

In the movie The Rookie, the wife makes a statement, “I am a Texas woman which means I don’t need the help of a man to keep things running.”

Even if you aren’t a Texas woman, believe it, having a great guy is fantastic, having a terrible guy is hell but in the end, you have everything you need to survive inside you already.

Of course these are things we are supposed to tell our daughters, we have to teach them to be strong, to be alone when they must. Our children need us to be strong for them, when they can’t. We are their shield, their shelter. We can do amazing things for them that we sometimes can’t find the strength to do for ourselves. Because we have to.

Mexican proverb, The house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman.

Sorry to sound preachy today, I just caught myself dwelling on how lucky I am with Dave and how bad it can be when it is and how we have to be survivors everyday even in the little things because that is how we survive the big ones.