My Sweet Baton Rouge

Mike and Barb were no longer that young couple in love. They were in a weekend retreat searching for any last-ditch sign of hope for a marriage that had more years of sour than sweetness. For a moment, he remembered his sweet Baton Rouge. And there she was, sitting beside him.

Mike and Barb during happier times.

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Intimacy’s Secret Hopes and Fears

“Seen this sky from the Afghan mountains, deserts of Iraq, Sinai and Saudi Arabia. Plenty of other places too. Even on the worst of days, it’s always been my place of peace,” Mike said. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, quietly acknowledging the beauty and solitude in which they were embraced. Realizing the 15-minute break was about to end, the instructor broke the silence.

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“He will wipe away every tear …”

“I’d like the fighting to stop,” Barbara said. “I’d like the pain to stop. I’d like to stop feeling angry, scared and sad all the time. I’d like to stop suspecting him all the time. I’d like to either know we can make things better, like it once was, or, as hard is it might be, call it quits. I can’t take this anymore. I wont,” she said as the sobs began.

Two women hug during break in marriage education class.

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