… and thought I’d share.
THE LIFE OF AN AFFAIR
A Romance is born, it lives its life, and it dies. At least, most romances die. Some live on, even beyond the lives of the lovers. All romances go through stages, and we measure these stages as “seasons.”
The Spring Romance
When it is born, a Romance is said to be in its Spring, when it is still full of vigor and reckless abandon. Some Romances end here, burning themselves out quickly. Passions run hot and tempers flare, and some Romances burn too brightly to survive longer than a brief affair. Conversations are little more than quick and clever flirtations, and the lovers are lost in the passion of the moment. Spring Romances are driven by infatuation, and the realities of the real world are either ignored or come crashing down with the force of a thunderstorm. If the affair does survive, it moves into the Summer season.
The Summer Romance
If a Spring Romance survives, it becomes a Summer Romance. The long, warm, lazy days of Summer are free of worry and temper. The Spring Romance has survived to become a Romance of reflection, revelation and soul searching. As the initial heat fades away into a long, warm blur, the lovers have more time to discover who they really are, and who they are together. This is when lovers determine if the short-term fling will turn into a long-term commitment. If it succeeds, it becomes an Autumn Romance.
The Autumn Romance
In the colder regions of the world, it is said there are really only two seasons: Winter, and Winter-is-Coming. Autumn is a season of preparation for the inevitable long months of winter. In the terms of a Romance, this is when all the illusions are dispelled, when the realities of the affair come to terms. Can my lover protect me? Can my lover support me? Is he strong enough to maintain me through the long months? This is when a Romance is truly tested, and if it survives, it moves on to the Winter season.
The Winter Season
In the coldest months of the year, a Romance suffers its darkest time. The joy and vigor of Spring are memories, the long conversations and discoveries of Summer have run their course, the preparations of Autumn begin to run low. All the lovers have to hold on to is each other, and if that is found wanting, the Romance will end. Winter is the season of death, and few Romances survive this bitter time. Only those who know that Spring is just a few months away, and realize that Romance can bloom once again, can last the year’s bleakest months.