the bitter taste of love
Every morning and evening Jude and I each take a teaspoon of vegan powder, a bioflavonoid
mixture of proprietary extracts of grape and green tea. It contains methyl sulfonyl methane
and glucosamine hydrochloride. I could continue the list of ingredients, but the next one
is fructooligosaccharides. I think the manufacturers just started making silly words up to
fill out the label.
In the vernacular of our household, it’s “gunk”. The stuff is for pain relief and it works well.
We both noticed an immediate improvement in our joints and backs.
It tastes terrible. We put it in water, stirring it thoroughly with a fork to break up any globs
that could explode in our mouths and ruin our day, possibly week. We could mix it in juice,
but that would leave us with an unsavoury memory of an otherwise first-rate beverage.
We often mix the gunk for each other. I was doing that recently when I realized that if I
weren’t in cahoots with this lovely lady, I very likely wouldn’t be drinking this awful stuff.
But when you’ve found the perfect life partner and you want to maximize your time together,
you’ll gleefully drink gunk.
And to me, that’s the long end of love. Bouquets wilt and boxes of candy don’t last long, but
building careers, making families and maintaining homes are lifetime chores and aren’t for
sissies. Keeping the lovelight burning as outside pressures and responsibilities accumulate
is one of life’s greatest challenges.
So the blazes of youth mellow into woodstove fires: warm, comforting and long lasting. The
best couples learn that gaps in their bond don’t mean less love but more room for light and
air. It’s difficult to learn, priceless to know. And never too late to find out. I thank Random
Chance that I have.
So, Jude, my luv, this glass of gunk is for you.
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Anchor Struck 
Here’s to both of you, tho I may toast with a glass of some favorite beverage later this evening.
Please toast away, Gordie. We appreciate your commitment to do that.
Jude is definitely gunk-worthy! xox
Roger that, Coach.
Ahhh as Henry Fonda said to Lucille Ball in the movie Yours Mine and Ours, “It’s Not Who You Go To Bed With That Counts But The One That’s There Beside You In The Morning!!! The crazy things we do for love that mean more than the big gesture… Of course Gunk Drinking is a Huge Gesture. LOL.
Beth, it’s great to hear from you! I was afraid you’d melted in the Arkansas heat. How is the drought in your area?
It’s the Texas heat these days. Looks like I am going to be living in Texas for a while. Close to my family. The drought is pretty bad still from last year but compared to other places we are ok. We have had some rain here and there so far we are ok.
I have to do some blog catching up to do. That should keep me out of the heat…heehee
you could have ‘what i did for love’ as your theme song..
…or slightly reword a line from Little Feat: “don’t Bogart that gunk, my friend…”