Both Earl and I are only children; it’s one of the many things we have in common. We also share two syllable names, a commitment to being on time, a relentlessness about balancing our checkbooks, a dedication to personal honesty, a love of good food, an interest in having more money than month, and an appreciation of hard work.
All this is good. At the same time, we have our differences. In fact, they are probably more significant than our likenesses, but we choose to disregard them to enjoy living together.
For the record, our differences include political affiliations, attitudes toward conservation, the NRA, George W. Bush, former President Bill Clinton, the war in Iraq, Fox vs. CNN, who should be taxed, and whether the television should blast throughout the house or simply envelop the family room.
It’s always a give and take, a ying and yang. I often feel I’m making the greatest compromise, but then maybe Earl feels the same way. In the end, I say to him that our relationship is democracy in action, because if we can live harmoniously when our similarities are less than our differences, then anybody can learn to do it.
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