Chapter 1
A Matter of the Heart

First let’s agree that we are not discussing one’s love for greasy foods or choice of song genera. This is a matter of the heart, intangible expression of affection and societal commitment. Therefore, with that cleared up, let me proclaim that love is a daydream with undefined limitations and with no common rules. Love changes faster than a meteorologist’s prediction, with its fluidity in control of its direction; sometimes it would be easier to conquer a bucking bull in a Texas bar than find a reason why we should stay in love. How does one stay in love anyway? One of Aesop’s best known fables tried to answer that question of infidelity by pitting a rose against a butterfly; what seemed to be the perfect natural relationship. After a short flirtatious moment, each ended up accusing the other of faithlessness, disloyalty, and fickleness. What started as a passionate attraction between two souls would become an ongoing struggle to stay in love with just each other, the way they did in the beginning. The butterfly and the rose were “meant for each other.” However, the butterfly had so many other flowers in its realm to service, while the rose was courted by other equally amorous butterflies. What has now become simply a matter of a shared benefit in life has allowed their love for each other to become less of the focus and more of a quest. Will a moment of the highly sensual and deeply emotional neuropathically tingling, prickling feelings of attraction be strong enough to claim their love as unique and inseparable forever? They entered into this relationship as strangers, will this passion end with them just being guests in each other’s lives? No secrets. No hidden past. No private thoughts. Love will conquer all?

