tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post6521810557893146851..comments2024-03-29T02:43:11.575-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: Perfectly MismatchedJungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-30274838463658917692022-08-09T12:47:42.830-04:002022-08-09T12:47:42.830-04:00I love this post so much. Yes, Hub and I are compl...I love this post so much. Yes, Hub and I are complete opposites in personality but totally compatible in every other way. Weird.Jenn McKinlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13589365995413467367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-64618475646823101702022-08-04T14:21:05.220-04:002022-08-04T14:21:05.220-04:00Well, I feel a bit better knowing that you were 14...Well, I feel a bit better knowing that you were 14 when they married. That was some full house with eleven kids! They were quite brave.Kathy Boone Reelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-50996491465202962052022-08-04T11:02:40.512-04:002022-08-04T11:02:40.512-04:00Julia, I love these late in life stories. If I ca...Julia, I love these late in life stories. If I can hold on to that memory of my confident self when I met my first boyfriend, then I think that my chances are pretty good. I already noticed a change in myself recently. I am more comfortable with myself. I feel like that character from Hans Christian Andersen's the Snow Queen. Your story about Jessica reminded me of a story. It is funny now. But at that time, I did not know what to think. Several years ago, I was invited to join friends at the opera. My new friend was hosting a table. She thought it would be funny to match me with this man from France because he did not speak English. The Frenchman and I tried to have a conversation and he was more auditory than visual. He did not understand my signing either. I think he was also interested in the hostess so I never had a chance. Now I can laugh about it. I ended up talking to a good friend and her husband, She knew me for many years because we were introduced by a mutual friend (they worked together).<br /><br />DianaBibliophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764234701385787238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-75310518013664247362022-08-04T10:55:58.563-04:002022-08-04T10:55:58.563-04:00Karen in Ohio, that is a lovely story. I remember...Karen in Ohio, that is a lovely story. I remember that you have mentioned this Deaf man before. Happy to hear that Matt can speak well and read lips. I have a friend who was born deaf. Matt sounds a lot like my friend. My friend was born deaf. She started wearing hearing aids the moment her family discovered her hearing loss (before she was a year old). Every morning BEFORE school, she would have voice lessons (speech therapy and auditory verbal lessons). <br /> She worked so hard that when people meet her, no one can tell that she has a hearing loss. <br /> She told me that was her life growing up - listening and speaking lessons for an hour EVERY morning from age 1? until she went away to college. The main point here is that it is A LOT OF WORK. When I met her, she signed to me. I met her through my boyfriend (now former boyfriend) who knew her at University. Some people say that I can read lips. I quickly figured out that was their polite way of saying "I do not want to learn Sign Language". <br /> LOL. Sometimes that is true. Some people speak clearly. Some people mumble. I was speaking at 6 months old and by the time I lost my hearing, I was speaking in complete sentences. I was walking. When I came home from the hospital after a 7 week stay (meningitis), I had to learn how to walk again. I learned sign language with my parents. I grew up speaking, reading lips AND signing. Sorry this is so long!<br /><br />DianaBibliophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764234701385787238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-79278714127959240972022-08-04T10:32:43.613-04:002022-08-04T10:32:43.613-04:00Coralee, thank you. If Gloria Steinem can get mar...Coralee, thank you. If Gloria Steinem can get married at 70, then there is hope for me, right?<br /><br />DianaBibliophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764234701385787238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-58495272978022702402022-08-04T10:31:12.938-04:002022-08-04T10:31:12.938-04:00Liz, I get what you mean about "moments of cr...Liz, I get what you mean about "moments of cruelty". I learned to recognize the triggers that led to when I have moments like these. I do not always notice, though I try to stay aware.<br /><br />Diana<br />Bibliophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764234701385787238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-71863834611050914302022-08-04T10:27:25.586-04:002022-08-04T10:27:25.586-04:00Julia, I liked what you said about being kind to o...Julia, I liked what you said about being kind to one another. DianaBibliophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764234701385787238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-5588204416469341482022-08-04T10:23:55.939-04:002022-08-04T10:23:55.939-04:00Thanks, Julia! Yech is exactly what I was thinkin...Thanks, Julia! Yech is exactly what I was thinking. DianaBibliophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764234701385787238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-67125226541845097322022-08-04T10:22:29.146-04:002022-08-04T10:22:29.146-04:00Thanks, Judy! Glad that you broke away and found ...Thanks, Judy! Glad that you broke away and found the right person.<br /><br />DianaBibliophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764234701385787238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-72769236090769011432022-08-04T09:14:30.706-04:002022-08-04T09:14:30.706-04:00My husband and I worked at the same university for...My husband and I worked at the same university for decades, most of which he spent in the Athletic Dept, while I was in the English Dept. We had a lot of laughs about people who knew us both for years before realizing we were a couple (“Wait! You’re married to …!”) in spite of the fact that we share a fairly unusual last name. A couple of times this was even followed by, “But what do you have in common?!” <br /><br />And all three of our offspring made matches with wonderful, perfect partners I NEVER would have foreseen. Thank goodness I never considered arranging marriages for them! Interestingly, one of those matches did originate online. I have no idea how that came about, but I’m glad it did. <br /><br />Thanks for posing a great question, Julia! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-54720720231182669592022-08-03T20:13:00.300-04:002022-08-03T20:13:00.300-04:00You all are so funny! And all absolutely right. ox...You all are so funny! And all absolutely right. oxoooHank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630366214207785339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-732613340297240272022-08-03T19:59:29.687-04:002022-08-03T19:59:29.687-04:00Ellen, this moved me to tears. Thank you.Ellen, this moved me to tears. Thank you.Julia Spencer-Fleminghttps://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerflemingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-50192772535901893452022-08-03T19:24:40.117-04:002022-08-03T19:24:40.117-04:00The day after we met, I took my very Irish Catholi...The day after we met, I took my very Irish Catholic buddy to my parents' home for Shabbat dinner, just to feed him. Because of a series of missed taxis and buses, he wound up staying overnight (in the den, not with me). I don't think either of us ever had so much fun with anyone else as we had with each other, starting that weekend. We spent the next half century on again, off again-- at times in daily, extensive contact, once apart and totally out of touch for nearly eight years. Long distance phone calls and e-mails were designed for us (or us for them). We functioned best halfway around the globe from each other. Yet for most of our lives, the other was in the background, a touchstone, a reference point. We would come back together, and it would be like there had been no hiatus. <br /><br />This is the man who once sent me a telegram to win an argument. He sent me a bejeweled brooch as my "Christmas present" (the only Christmas gift he ever gave me) after I told him I wouldn't marry him. We talked over each other, amused each other infinitely, scared the s--t out of each other, and valued each other to no end. <br /><br />And then he picked a fight with me when he was dying so I wouldn't find out until after he was gone. There is no word for what we were, and now that he is ashes scattered in an orchard, there is no word for what I am except, perhaps, bereft. <br /><br />I wouldn't have been me if we had actually been together; he wouldn't have been him. And yet I wouldn't have been me had we not been so much a part of each other's lives. I sometimes hear his phrasing come out of my mouth. We couldn't have been more deeply connected-- or, to an outside observer, less so. What does a small-town Jewish girl from the midwest have in common with a British colonial preppy, other than our Ivy educations, our shared years in law school, and in the end, a whole lot of love? Damned if I know. Damned if I ever did.Ellen M. Kozakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18342774310814059158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-13954863980193026912022-08-03T16:45:08.601-04:002022-08-03T16:45:08.601-04:00A match made in h . . . er, cyberspace. <3A match made in h . . . er, cyberspace. <3Storyteller Maryhttps://storytellermary.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-54393157498815684242022-08-03T15:33:39.308-04:002022-08-03T15:33:39.308-04:00Diana & Julia: From what I've seen and hea...Diana & Julia: From what I've seen and heard of The Girl's guy, he's very kind. The Hubby can be kind - but he has his moments of cruelty. I suppose I do, too.Liz Millironhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04919409969263609919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-50383417570892838622022-08-03T15:28:21.162-04:002022-08-03T15:28:21.162-04:00Kathy - I'm not that young! I was 14 when they...Kathy - I'm not that young! I was 14 when they got married; Mom came with three kids and dad came with eight. They really appreciated that empty nest period after the last of us left, because they started out as newlyweds with more than a full house!<br /><br />I hear you about the having a dog together. My folks doted excessively on their cat. We used to remark, when visiting, that the cat was coddled a lot more than the kids had been!Julia Spencer-Fleminghttps://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerflemingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-3107615021440882152022-08-03T15:19:22.929-04:002022-08-03T15:19:22.929-04:00Pat, in my opinion, it's a sign of a healthy p...Pat, in my opinion, it's a sign of a healthy partnership indeed when you can debate coming or not for your fiftieth wedding anniversary! Of course, I was always the surprisingly practical one, and can see myself urging Ross, under those circumstances, to just get the house sold. I always insisted on going out for Valentines Day a week after, because why fight the crowds and the inflated prices?Julia Spencer-Fleminghttps://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerflemingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-60766660446846809282022-08-03T15:16:18.650-04:002022-08-03T15:16:18.650-04:00Chiming in with another later in life love story -...Chiming in with another later in life love story - a friend who had a short and dreadful marriage, followed by decades of being single found the most wonderful man when she was in her early sixties. And they met - drumroll - through a dating app.<br />As for communication, when my friend Jessica Ellicott met her husband, she spoke no Portugese and he spoke no English. Neither of them was proficient when they married a year later, but since they're coming up on their 30th anniversary, they obviously worked it out. Julia Spencer-Fleminghttps://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerflemingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-57289983500814773382022-08-03T15:13:21.980-04:002022-08-03T15:13:21.980-04:00That is an amazing story and I hope we hear more! ...That is an amazing story and I hope we hear more! Julia, I can hardly imagine Ross as not talkative and huggyLucy Burdettehttps://LucyBurdette.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-46169489374728864872022-08-03T15:10:40.058-04:002022-08-03T15:10:40.058-04:00Mark, I never let my lack of personal experience s...Mark, I never let my lack of personal experience stop me from offering my opinion :-D<br />I think you've got it exactly - complementary strengths and compensatory weaknesses make for the strongest partnership. And that holds true for other types of partnerships as well, not just romantic!Julia Spencer-Fleminghttps://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerflemingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-6214950352510805632022-08-03T15:08:22.473-04:002022-08-03T15:08:22.473-04:00And he's an awesome dog dad, too!And he's an awesome dog dad, too!Julia Spencer-Fleminghttps://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerflemingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-2459616108158034042022-08-03T15:07:27.199-04:002022-08-03T15:07:27.199-04:00Congratulations, Amanda! And I think after the fir...Congratulations, Amanda! And I think after the first fifteen-twenty years, we all start pick up more and more traits from our partners. It's all that learning and growing we do while sharing what the other one likes!Julia Spencer-Fleminghttps://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerflemingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-92105566002442677752022-08-03T15:05:40.566-04:002022-08-03T15:05:40.566-04:00I was thinking of you and Jonathan as one of those...I was thinking of you and Jonathan as one of those perfectly mismatched couples, Hank!Julia Spencer-Fleminghttps://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerflemingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-31970064779512865802022-08-03T15:04:17.749-04:002022-08-03T15:04:17.749-04:00You never can tell which way those genes will jump...You never can tell which way those genes will jump, Margaret!Julia Spencer-Fleminghttps://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerflemingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-31678740548984187102022-08-03T15:03:20.389-04:002022-08-03T15:03:20.389-04:00I love it, Gigi!I love it, Gigi!Julia Spencer-Fleminghttps://www.facebook.com/juliaspencerflemingnoreply@blogger.com