“There arose a perfume of tenderness, that ghost of passion which, in the most unexpected relationship, can make a whole lifetime devoted to irksome duty pass like a gracious dream” (pg. 74)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder.
I have fallen in love with Thorton Wilder because of this quote.
How wonderful would a relationship like this be? Having to get close enough not only in physical proximity but emotional proximity as well, to one person and stay there long enough to inhale that “perfume of tenderness”
where your first instinct would be to wrap your arms around this person and hold them close.
Tenderness without forethought, without premeditation, without an agenda.
No pretension.
To be pleasantly surprised at a love that grows where you didn’t expect it to grow. And you look upon it in wonder, finding it near impossible to believe that it truly exists in you,
the most unlikely of places,
or so you believed.
Where obligation and duty never really existed in its denotative form. All business-like and astringent.
No boundaries set by written laws or verbal promises but rather
a fidelity that is unexpected and natural.
Some of us have found in our relationships some such a manifestation of Wilder’s love
and some of us are still waiting.
Whatever the case I hope we recognize it as such
and hold on to it as a dream come true,
feeling blessed.
Ink And Spine 