After hearing news about their friends Debra and Kevin on a path to divorce, Herkamer and Gertrude decided to visit their friend Brother Hadley. He had them perform an exercise where they held their breath until they had to exhale. He had just told them that every good relationship in marriage breathes.
Herkamer and Gertrude continued to be a little puzzled by Brother Hadley's illustration, so he asked them to perform another task. “Now, try this. Breathe out.” Herkamer looked at Gertrude, shrugged his shoulders and began to comply. Gertrude joined him when they heard him say, “Now, keep breathing out. Keep breathing out. Keep breathing out.” Until finally they could breathe out no longer. “You see,” began Brother Hadley as Herkamer and Gertrude caught their breath again, “People make the mistake of believing that their relationships are always going to be very close, very intimate where neither one wants to do anything else in the world except to be around one another. That's like breathing in, and then there are those times where they don't want to have anything to do with one another. That's like breathing out. Usually trouble begins when one side or the other lasts too long. Every good relationship breathes, and any couple who makes it understands that their relationship must be like breathing. Breathe in, Breathe out. Breathe in. Breath out. Do you understand?” Herkamer and Gertrude nodded their heads, and began to understand what happened to their friends.
Herkamer and Gertrude stood, and Brother Hadley stood after them. “Thank you so much, Brother Hadley,” said Herkamer. “You always have the best answers for us.” Brother Hadley bowed his head in humility, and said, “Son, it's all because of the book. It's all because of the book.” Although Herkamer didn't understand exactly what that meant, he and Gertrude hugged Brother Hadley one more time, thanked him as they walked to their car.
As they rode Gertrude said, “He always has great answers, doesn't he?” “Yes he does, and now we need to see if we can help Debra and Kevin because that's exactly what we should share with them,” said Herkamer. Gertrude agreed, and said, “But weren't you going to wax our car when you came home?” “Yes,” began Herkamer who began to smile sheepishly and said, “Wax on, wax off, breathe in, breathe out. Wax on, wax off, breathe in, breathe out.” Gertrude busted out laughing and reached over to Herkamer to hug him. “Guess we're breathing in tonight, huh, Herky?” “We sure are, Gerty. We sure are.”
Stay tuned soon for more stories of Herkamer and Gertrude. Same blog time. Same blog spot. Until tomorrow...Why Say More?
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