FMV, Matilda and Piecing Friends, The trip did provide me and us with more time and space to work on improving the connection. There was turbulence towards the end of the trip, but with my self-help book on "The Path to Love" as a guide and a willingness to listen to her complaints, after initial defensiveness, I think this trip will be a catalyst for increased connection and movement towards intimacy.
I'll have to sort it out. Some of the fussing had to do with the stressors inherent in travelling (driving in unfamiliar cities, trying to meet both of our travel needs, on limited time). She wanted more exploration, I was happy to keep going back to beaches we had a good day at. We'll probably need to expand the next trip by several days. We were trying to accomplish too much in not enough time.
During the turbulent last few days, when the emotional thunderstorms filled the day, and my efforts to accommodate her kept failing, I initially was defensive and reactive, but switched to listening and giving her the space to vent, and heard that she values our time together and is deeply hurt if I'm unpleasant to be with. She also wants more affection from me, and wants me to show more gratitude for her kindness and service to the R.
She's already talking about a return trip so that we can explore what we didn't get to do this trip. A return trip in the winter would be fine with me.
There were highlights. At one of the Salsa venues, my W entered me in a dance contest. I was paired with an excellent partner (a local version of my W) and won the contest and a $100.
CL
CL 53 W 54 M 20 yrs. 03'-09' Separation + Old Patterns + GAL 10-14' Piecing
"The Master allows things to happen. She shapes events as they come."
