This relationship brought to you by .38 Special

Had a realization today. (While sweeping up debris off the floor, but I can't see any connection there, so it's probably not significant.) It seems my model for all my relationships -- friends, my kids, any hypothetical romantic relationship -- is based on the words of Donnie Van Zant:

Just Hold On Loosely, but don't let go
If you cling to tightly,
you're gonna lose control.

My friends know I'm there if they need me. They're generally there when I need them, with the same provisos that apply to me (I do actually leave the apartment sometimes, to do laundry and such). They know I'm generally not going to judge them too harshly -- if I didn't generally approve of them, they wouldn't be my friends. I'm a little "tighter" with the kids, of course, but the principle is the same -- they can be themselves, as long as they're not destructive, or endangering -- or too hideously annoying...

Romance? Well, that's theoretical, of course. But I really think Donnie was on to something.

Your baby needs someone to believe in
And a whole lot of space to breathe in.

I don't need another half of me. I have two legs, and despite an occasionally trick knee, they hold me pretty well. I learned the hard way that when two people come together to make one person, they only get half the stuff done that two people would. And they spend the energy holding onto one another that they could be spending learning about themselves.

So, thank you, .38 Special. If the day comes that I never wanna get myself free, I'll surely think of you.

And I paid the download, so it's all legal.

(So. Anyone have any experience on the Rammstein model?)