#reverb10, Day 8: Beautifully Different

I’m actually quite pleased that this is a second post for today, because I’d hate to have to contemplate it by itself. Interestingly, though I’ve subscribed to the email list for the reverb10 prompts, and each prompt has dutifully landed in my inbox the night before, this one didn’t arrive; I searched my spam filters and trash folder, just in case, but no dice. Maybe because I’d missed yesterday’s post? Could the system be paying that much attention?

I only realized that the email hadn’t shown when I started seeing friends of mine expressing dismay about the prompt, which, by the way, is:

Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different ‚Äì you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful.

And ugh. I’m not sure I really want to go there, nor do I really feel like reflecting on why. Julie managed her deflection wonderfully, but I’m just not sure I’ve got the energy for it. Maybe I’m different. I’m not all that different. I’m not sure that what makes me different amounts to anything, and I’m not sure I really want to dwell on it, one way or the other.

So instead I’m going to write a little about today. It’s my mother’s birthday, for one thing, but it’s also the day that I call my anniversary: I consider my relationship with the most wonderful R. to have started 20 years ago today.

Twenty! It’s astonishing, even to me; R. is fond of saying that he’s the only person who thought we had a chance of making it this far, and honestly, it’s the truth. I’d never have thought I’d find someone willing to be in this with me for so long, particularly with the bajillions of reasons why, objectively, it shouldn’t have worked.

But it did. And it still does. It’s worked for pretty much my entire adult life. And I’m amazed at how much I look forward to what’s ahead of us.

[Updated to add: I now really wonder whether the system is watching for each day’s post before sending the next prompt, as the day 8 post just arrived in my inbox, day 7 having gone up about an hour ago.]