A word about "Dear Friend"...
A number of people have asked me why I haven't changed Dear Friend's name to "Dear Husband"?
Mainly, it's because he *is* my dear friend--the dearest of them all. I have learned that heart friends nearly always treat each other in ways that honor relationship--and that spouses can frequently treat each other in ways that they would never think of treating their best friends. I aim to treat him always like the dear friend that he is.
There is another reason too. When I first joined an Internet community 10 years ago, everyone there referred to their male spouses as "DH," which could stand for "Dear Husband" or "Damned Husband," depending on the circumstances. Since I used to refer to the Hydra in that forum as "DH," I just can't bring myself to change Dear Friend's name to that. In all the important ways, they are as different as chalk and cheese, for which I daily thank the good Lord.
I would have called him "Beloved," since that is what he is and it is actually what his name means in the original language from which it comes--but Cecilia already had that one covered by the time he became a fixture in my life.
So I think I'll just leave his moniker as-is. It suits him and it makes me happy.
Mainly, it's because he *is* my dear friend--the dearest of them all. I have learned that heart friends nearly always treat each other in ways that honor relationship--and that spouses can frequently treat each other in ways that they would never think of treating their best friends. I aim to treat him always like the dear friend that he is.
There is another reason too. When I first joined an Internet community 10 years ago, everyone there referred to their male spouses as "DH," which could stand for "Dear Husband" or "Damned Husband," depending on the circumstances. Since I used to refer to the Hydra in that forum as "DH," I just can't bring myself to change Dear Friend's name to that. In all the important ways, they are as different as chalk and cheese, for which I daily thank the good Lord.
I would have called him "Beloved," since that is what he is and it is actually what his name means in the original language from which it comes--but Cecilia already had that one covered by the time he became a fixture in my life.
So I think I'll just leave his moniker as-is. It suits him and it makes me happy.